


Youth

by alextheace



Series: The Book of Us. [2]
Category: Inazuma Eleven, Inazuma Eleven GO
Genre: Asexuality, Coming Out, Coming of Age, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Friendship, Growing Up Together, High School, Other, Poor Life Choices, Sexuality, Slice of Life, Underage Drinking, Underage Smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-01-02 23:04:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 31,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21169358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alextheace/pseuds/alextheace
Summary: Ten years after a group of soccer players grows out of their childhood onto their teenage years a new group is approaching their same age...this time is more complicated than the past: new technology gadgets, new slang and many many many new ways to crack the code for studying and basically living life.Times are changing and the way people grow up as well.





	1. prologue.

"But me  
They cannot touch,  
Old Age and death…the strange  
And ignominious end of old  
Dead folk!"

Youth by Adelaide Crapsey

And we begin our story, a cool night of April.


	2. Innocence.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matsukaze Tenma is well known for his naive nature, and this quality of him is going to be taken advantage of by two of his most mischievous friends one night of bros and dares.
> 
> What is he going to be forced to purchase? And why most of his friend would use him as a meme for the next couple of weeks?  
Oh boy...if he only knew on time.

** Innocence ** ** . **

“How am I supposed to act normal if the nine of you are going to be yelling on my ear at once?” The curly haired boy said towards the air while he hid the wireless headphone with his long hair while standing in front of the pharmacy that he would regularly visit to buy remedies and ointments, now this time he was going to buy something a bit...different than his regular shopping. The little local was probably five years old and he would visit it almost daily when he used to be a part of his middle school soccer team; now those days were over and long gone, after winning the  Football Frontier Cup he and his friends would still be a part of it yet once his first year as a high school student he decided that he no longer liked soccer enough to be part of his school’s soccer team and, almost like all his friends, his childhood as a soccer player was no longer to be seen. 

They were still friends and that phone call was the living proof of it, almost every day after school the old teammates would meet with each other, to pull pranks on one another, talk about morning boners and, just like that exact moment, to play dare or even more embarrassing dare. How did they decide that this particular teenager was going to do the dare? The question was simple, the one who had had a wet dream recently was going to execute that prank that the kinkiest (and oldest) of all them had months thinking about. Matsukaze Tenma rue that morning that he had woke up with a boner and pull a prank on his group chat because he never thought it was going to backfire at him the way it was. Now he was hiding the cellphone with the ongoing call and the headphone on his left ear while hiding it on the hair he was reluctant to cut. 

“Just don’t be a chicken bro, be cool you just have to follow what we say and you won’t be as embarrassed as  Minamisawa wants you to be” Even if their voices sounded similar over the phone he could recognize the voice of Kyosuke who was half laughing half serious. So, as always, he trusted his best friend and telling them to be quiet he entered the little pharmacy who was now being attended by a 20-something clerk who regularly was on the mornings on his way to school. Slowly he walked around the aisles while the woman was now focused on some papers (probably prescriptions of patients), he walked by the  allergy aisle and stood there while calling his friends in half whispers, his friends were talking one over the other while waiting for Tenma to tell them he was inside the building waiting for their instructions.

On the other side of the line a group of nine teenagers were sitting on Tenma’s very own room, some of them sitting on the floor and some others on his bed while joking and drinking some very questionable energy drink,  GodBull , as they were waiting for his friend to give them the cue, the two most rebellious of the bunch were whispering to each other on what to tell their friend while laughing in between their whispers and the last thing they told the rest of them was to play along what they were about to instruct his friend to do as a dare. And oh boy, after what they were going to do with their poor friend Tenma was going to make him even more mad at them.

“I am ready guys, whatever you want me to do just do it quickly otherwise I’ll chicken out” Ah, the smile that was drawn in all his friends at the end of the line was so mischievous that they had to suppress the urge of laughing. Tsurugi grabbed the phone and while  pretending to have a calmer tone he started instructing Tenma on what to do.

“Very well Tenma, what you need to buy is next to the allergy aisle, it’s called family planning aisle. You are going to look the brand called  Brojan , it’s a box of candies we really want to eat” He said while  Kirino was laughing against a pillow realizing what they were about to make Tenma do. 

“Hmmm, why would candies be on this type of aisle? Are those like vitamins that you take as a family group? That’s why it’s on the family planning aisle?” Tenma whispered while now  Shindou broke in laughter having to leave the room in order for Tenma not to get suspicious.

“That’s right, that’s what we need, we need the JUMBO size of them” Tsurugi said while choking up while laughing waiting for Tenma’s response.

The teenager was staring into the aisle with other brands of “candies” in all sorts of types and weird slogans printed on their packages, he didn’t know what his friend was needing since all their packages looked the same making him puzzled, while scratching his hair he let a little groan alerting his friends that he was probably going to back away from it. “Guys I can’t find it. Is it okay if I ask for help? Probably the lady knows better than anyone” 

All of them were collectively laughing their asses off that forced Tsurugi to mute the microphone while all of them were on the floor grabbing their stomachs or clapping their hands nonstop,  Taiyou was rolling on Tenma’s bed, Tsurugi was fighting for air and  Shindou was crying of laughter while almost every single one of them were completely knocked down in laughter, yes, Tenma was  _ that _ naïve that he couldn’t realize his friends were forcing him to buy condoms and, probably, more things from that nature.

As Tsurugi called them to be quiet he unmuted the microphone one more time supporting Tenma’s idea. “Yes, if you can’t find it ask the worker, we need that really bad, oh and also while you are on your request ask her about intimate oil, I need it to cook something, it has flavors so ask for strawberry”  Minsamisawa cracked down in laughter one more time as Tsurugi smiled at his friends with a  playful smile, yes, that kid was all kinds of evil.

Slowly and still with two packages on his hand he got closer to the counter while the worker was still reading those papers, Tenma cleared his throat calling the attention of the adult who  kinda opened her eyes a bit wider watching a high schooler holding two packages of condoms, still smiling Tenma assumed by her silence that he could ask her about the specific brand his friends told him to buy. “Hello, good evening. I uh, need aq specific brand of this ones, by any chance you have the  Brojan ones?”

“Excuse me?” The woman said while his friends on the other like were laughing hysterically just imagining that poor woman’s face. Slowly the adult let down her papers and inspecting Tenma’s face she realized he was dead serious  so; with a little bit of laughter she left the other side of the counter to go back with him to the aisle he was inspecting a couple of minutes before.

“I need the  Brojan ones, jumbo size please, me and my nine friends need it” The woman turned around with her eyes wide open and, all Tenma could listen was their friends screaming and begging him to stop, even Kyosuke who was a hard headed guy who wouldn’t laugh at the most stupid jokes was at that very moment laughing with no control gasping for air and choking thanks to the hilarious situation.

“Sure...eh...you need anything else” She said while handling the package to Tenma who was now trying to remember what was the other thing Kyosuke had requested him so, in a little whisper he tried to call attention to his friends who were laughing at the other side of the line.

“Guys...what is what you told me to buy?” The teenager whispered while he froze in front of the woman who was now looking at him concerned and a bit  embarrassed by the way he was behaving.

“The oils, the flavored ones” Tenma heard  Kirino saying weakly on the other side of the line, while  Kyousuke was telling everyone to keep it down to listen what was Tenma going to say now, he had already gave them a good laugh but that was the crucial part since he had foreshadow the fact that he was going to share those ‘candies’ with his other friends. 

“Oh yes, I need one of those oils that are combo with those, I need a strawberry flavored one please”

“You need oils too? Huh, do you taste them or something to need them at this young age?” She inquired while his friends were dead silent on his room, Tenma on the other hand stood there thinking for an answer while every second that was passing by was a torture for his friends who were expecting what other brilliant response he was about to share.  Kirino was breathing heavily,  Shindou was holding back his laughs and Kyosuke was on the verge of tears shaking his knee waiting for Tenma to speak once again.

“Well, I’ve tasted other kinds of them, but you can’t go wrong with strawberry, is the best taste to have before eating out” Oh, my, god, all of the guys on the room started laughing again while the silence between the worker and Tenma was building up, a little bit nervous she grabbed the little bottle of oil called Sensations and stared at Tenma who was now smiling at her, whatever that kid was planning with his nine friends and oils was not sounding right, so she  smiled a bit concerned.

“Would that be it?”

“Uh...yes...that would be it, I’m ready for the checkout” Tenma said while smiling and, on the other side of the line, all his friends were knocked out of laughter, Tenma was truly making himself an  embarrassment yet he couldn’t catch it yet, it was just simply glorious that moment they wouldn’t let it be forgotten since, his good friend  Minamisawa , had recorded almost every single thing knowing damn well he was going to post it later on his ex-soccer club group chat sharing it with the other people who weren’t there with them.

Quietly and awkward the worker ringed out the items while Tenma was nervously bouncing his leg while staring at a fixated point on the other side of the room, while she bagged his items on two bags (in order to avoid old people to see what he bought) the woman handed the items declaring the grand total of 489 yens, Tenma quickly gave her the change and she opened her drawer putting the money in and the second Tenma got his receipt he rushed out of the pharmacy feeling  embarrassed . As she saw him leave the purple haired woman had rue the  day she decided to put a pharmacy on her old neighborhood, realizing the kids she used to see playing around the kindergarten ground were now teenagers with sexual lives and other things, truly times were changing.

As he walked down the street Tenma realized that his friends were no longer laughing, and actually they had told him to go back home, as they were talking about videogames and irrelevant stuff something clicked on Tenma’s mind, why were they laughing so hysterically while he was purchasing those candies? Why every single one of them laughed even more when he mentioned the oils? Slowly and now himself shutting down the microphone he unwrapped those items from the plastic bag, he couldn’t read well so he walked to the closest street light post to read the letters on the package, after a couple of second trying to find a good angle he started reading out loud.

“Brojan...ultra-thin jumbo size, for more ecstasy and enjoyment” He paused while turning the package around reading the instructions of usage. “Take the con... dom ?” A little gasp of air left his lungs and realizing what he had just bought he let a huge scream of embarrassment as he started swearing to the air and unmuting his microphone starting to curse at his friend who now had realized Tenma had finally realized what he had just purchased making them laugh one more time. “YOU FUCKTARDS EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU IS DEAD WHEN I ARRIVE HOME”

He could listen his friends laugh on the other side of the line as he could never forget  what he had just done, it was so freaking embarrassing that he had bought condoms and lubricant and that he had told the worker that he was going to  _ use  _ them with his friends, he couldn’t process what the other person had thought but he could assume it wasn’t something nice.

On his way back he started giving punches and kicks to his friends while everyone was laughing showing him the video  Minamisawa had recorded making things ten times more embarrassing, at the end of the night Tenma kept the condoms and he gave the oil to  Shindou whom had actually come to him in private asking for it. And, a couple minutes later, the video was uploaded on their ex-team  group chat and the same one started to blown up thanks to the content of the video, Aoi, Akane, Sakura and even Minori who was literally quiet 24/7 on the group chat gave their opinions, ah yes, it was going to be the first of many, many embarrassment moments those teenagers were going to be part of one way or another. This freshmen year of high school was going to be a memorable one and everyone was aware of it.

“Last time I go to that fucking pharmacy, you guys are way too much”

“At least you can wear those if you ever get lucky”

“Seriously, go fuck yourself Kyousuke”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUESS WHO'S BACK? BACK AGAIN.  
Oh dear, this had happened to me a lot of time on my work and you guys don't imagine how funny is it sometimes when kids ask for condoms not knowing exactly what they are. I just hope that for now on our beloved Tenma would be more cautious on what things he purchases and also not trusting on his friends so blindly cause, let's face it, they played him dirty.
> 
> Any thoughts? Comments? All of them are well received, you can also follow me on twitter @revelvelets and tumblr @acladykay if you like this content. I hope you guys had enjoyed it and hopefully I'll see you next week, have a good week and I hope every single one of you have blessed days, take care and I'll see you soon uwu


	3. Expectations.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As all of you might think, relationships aren't the only thing that puzzle us through our life. What would be the topic that's tormenting Shindou's mind?  
Is it love?  
Is it feelings?  
Whatever it is I can guarantee that more than one of you have gone through that, I can bet whatever you want. 
> 
> Living life it's a hard concept, specially when you don't allow yourself to feel not even the slightest thing.

** Expectations. **

Marble tiles, slow humming to the beat and some drips of sweat running down his neck all the way down to his chest, that was the typical afternoon of a musical genius like  Shindou Takuto who had only good comments regarding his piano playing but, at that moment he was not even trying to be good and, even so, his technique was by reflex that it didn’t matter how little effort he put, it’ll still be to the human ear like it was amazingly executed.

It was almost like no one could realize the dreadful expression on his face, almost anyone could think things were okay yet his mother stopped him while the piece was finalizing making the teenager a bit confused; he was doing as he was told yet he was stopped midway with no explanation whatsoever, his mother approached him and sat next to him as the now long haired boy switched his stare onto the other side of the room. The tall and slender figure started touching some tiles a bit clumsy but not caring much to be corrected by him (as she was in the past) slowly, almost awkwardly she was trying to play “Twinkle  Twinkle Little Star” Even a kid could play that yet her smile was not stopping at any second, she seemed to enjoy her playing almost like if she was executing the most complicated musical piece on earth,  Shindou couldn’t understand at first what she was doing so all he was able to do was looking at the other side of the room, sometimes wiping the sweat of his neck, it had been a long time since his mother had urged him to practice piano, usually he would do it once in a blue moon (contrary to what he would usually do in middle school) Now he was actually doing what he was told but it seemed that by that clumsy and almost mediocre playing he was getting scolded, they were no words, but he felt some remarks between the tempo.

A couple of seconds after the woman stopped playing  Shindou finally had the guts to stare directly onto her face and instead of colliding with a harsh face he found himself looking at his mother who was staring at him in the most loving way possible, without saying much she started combing his now long hard with her fingers; at first he was taken aback and even moved a bit to the side, yet, after seeing her smile he let her have it for a little bit. Her son had grown up so much, his hair was a bit longer than when he embarked himself on being his school’s soccer club captain, he had grown a couple of centimeters taller, ten to be exact, his voice had gone deeper and his whole body was stronger and wider in comparison to his previous years, he had some bruises on his face due to some fights with his best friends and his face looked more mature, he was a whole new person yet in her eyes he was still a little boy with a passion for piano and innocence, she had never realized up until that moment that probably his young prodigy was curious for  _ other things _ , rather what she was used to already.

“You are an amazing piano player  Takuto , but your face my son, your face shows that you despise it” She took a deep breath as she herself stopped combing her hair and just let her hands embracing her only child’s face “Thank you for playing per my request today, but I guess we can let piano playing on a side for a while. Maybe you can do other things, I’ve heard that your school is preparing a mid-spring festival, what do you think of offering your help for your class?” 

“I don’t know mom, me helping on my classroom? I’ve never done it...” He said while he moved his face from her hands as himself stared at another point in the room avoiding her stare. “What can I be good for anyways? This year the only thing I’ve done was collecting homework for our homeroom teacher”

“It can be anything you want son, maybe by doing this, you can find something else you like. I’ve heard your other friend's chit chatting about it when they stay for the night, specially  Ranmaru , maybe you can tag along with him. Ah! Imagine how amazing two best friends having main roles on the mid-spring festival, sound cute, don’t you think?”

Almost like if he got worked up out of nowhere, he nodded along, feeling a rush of anxiety coming along the way, he felt the room getting bigger and bigger as himself started shrinking, one of her words triggered something on him, the same lack of emotion that he had while playing piano, the same emotion that had him eating himself up alive...why everyone expected the two of them to be together always? 

With a fake smile he just nodded along his mother and excused himself and as he reached the doorknob, he could feel voices coming up to his head, he could feel the celling and everything around him turning up and down.

Did I forgot to mention the fact that  Ranmaru and  Shindou where, exclusively, experimental for one and the other?

Yes, you heard it right, not only their bodies had grown up, also their mentalities and since the two of them shared a bond so amazing it was a matter of time for the of them two experiment with all sorts of ideas crossing their heads and, like any teenager would do, they would mess with the other and experiment what they wanted and were attracted to, one of the two knew exactly what he wanted and the other didn’t, can you guess which one was  Shindou in this whole puzzle?

I know you might be wondering how everything started, how everything went to that direction and to be honest there was no exact beginning to their affair, he just knew it had started one day and it was no way to stop it until recently when he realized what they were doing and he felt a moral pressure for him to stop before things moved to the other level.  Shindou had a new existential crisis by the week and  Ranmaru had to put up with them but once it hit the field of their so called “relationship”  Shindou knew very well that it was time to ask himself what he was doing with him was the right thing to do. And after a heated make out session after pranking his friend Tenma into buying condoms he put a halt on their encounters assuring  Ranmaru he was just going to be focusing on his piano playing again; he was encouraged by his mother to stop playing piano and to get closer to  Kirino and he had detached himself from him to become better at piano playing, this was probably the worst irony that could ever exist it seemed like the universe wanted to laugh at him, or maybe pushing him to finally come into terms with  Ranmaru and stop pretending everything was okay yet, behind  closed doors, both of them were more like friends with benefits than just best friends.

He was not blaming his “hormones” onto the reason why he was experimenting with one of his closest friends putting at sake their friendship just for some kisses and arousing moments, he was curious, plain curious. He had never been able to kiss someone before and since he had met  Kirino for the longest time, spent long periods of time with him, he was curious of how other people’s bodies, he thought they were all the same but once he caught  Kirino without a shirt he realized that even his back was different than his and just by that tiny detail it had escalated quickly to the point the two of them would kiss for hours and experiment what were the things that made them feel all kinds of sensations on their bodies, how they reacted at the soft brush of their touch on parts of their bodies who were tagged as “personal”  Shindou was curious but now after years of curiosity he was now aware that maybe what he wanted wasn’t aligned with what  Kirino wanted from him and, to be honest, that mere thought scared the crap out of him.

Snapping out of his thoughts he realized he had walked all the way up to his backyard and for the first time in two years he started kicking his old soccer ball that had stayed up on the same spot since the last time he had played soccer without knowing it was going to be the last time in a while. Kicking and hitting the ball on the wall he was still uncertain what his mother meant by helping out more in school, what was the point if he was ignoring  Kirino ? Wouldn’t him helping on the festival mean that he had to spend time together and start their weird relationship all over again? It was uncertain the reason of her words, well, for now.

That night he went to bed early with more questions than answers, but he had no time for that, he was good at avoiding thoughts that bothered him better than anyone else, he put on halt the puzzle on his head onto dreamland, where he could reminiscence about his old times were everything was simple, nothing was meddled and his only thoughts on his mind were piano and soccer. He ruled the day he wanted to grow up, it was nothing like he thought it was going to be and honestly if he could stay as a fourteen-year-old kid without a doubt he would take the deal.

Sadly, that was just a dream and by next morning he had all those problems on his head, back the second he had woken up...that day was going to be a ride, especially since it was only Tuesday.

His school was just like every single one on the country, a big building with many classrooms, a vending machine, shoe lockers, gym. All of that seemed normal to him so he couldn’t understand why his old coach  Endou was teared eyed every time he talked about the school he was going to attend in the future;  Shindou was the type of boy that had a fatalist mentality, he didn’t give that much importance to buildings or things that didn’t had a life on its own (Nihilism they call it on the streets) So his presence there was just mere irrelevant, there wasn’t anything particular for him to attend that school since he just attended the school that was closer to his home and were all his friends were going to attend. His mother’s words had thrown him off in all sorts of ways considering the fact that she was encouraging something on him that he wasn’t used to: live life, he didn’t know how to do it, neither how that was achieved. 

He almost slapped himself by having those thoughts, he had way more important things to do rather than enjoying his school life. He had to tell his closest friend that he didn’t want anything romantic with him, that he didn’t want to continue experimenting with him, that maybe his phase of experimenting was over and he had now figured it out what he liked and to whom he was attracted to. 

By lunch time his mind was a bit worked out, he didn’t realize it was time until Kyosuke shook him from his seat signalizing to him that they were going to eat on the rooftop that day. Without saying much, he stopped by the school’s snack bar to buy some food since he had forgotten his lunch that morning and on his way to the top of the school, he ran into  Ranmaru who greeted him as if nothing was happening.  Kirino had also grown up a lot, he was as tall as he was, he had cut a bit his hair yet it would still fall back from his shoulders a little bit, his pigtails were gone too, his body was relatively smaller than his, his back was less broad and he was skinnier than all his friends; his whole exterior image was elegant and a little bit feminine yet on the inside his personality had expanded. He was still the type of calm boy but he was also mischievous from time to time and, on a not so surprising note, he liked boys. 

Of course people guessed that due to the fact he and  Shindou looked closer than ever, but neither of the two friends had never said to anyone what they were attracted to, basically people were taking conclusion from what they could see, even if they didn’t know the two best friends were in a more complicated relationship. 

“Have you decided if you’re going to help building the scenery for our play?”  Kirino said to him while the two teenagers were walking up the stairs,  Kirino was leading the way while  Shindou was behind him, his expression was a little bit surprised since it wasn’t anything related to the fact the two of them weren’t make out buddies anymore.

“What?” That was the only thing that could come out of his mouth as  Kirino glanced back at him with a smile.

“For the festival, are you helping with the scenery or are you going to be part of our class play? We decided to do a little play every 15 minutes while on the remaining time the actors talk as if they were their characters. Sound cool, better than Kyosuke’s class idea anyways” He commented as the two of them were still climbing up the stairs or at least that was the impression  Shindou was having considering how terrified he was to confront  Kirino for that topic that had been going around for far too long.

“Anything sounds fine, but if there’s still a place for building I’ll tag along. I hate acting” He said while the two boys were now on the stairs that led to the rooftop, without saying much  Kirino nodded along and missing a good chance the two of them reunited with their friends and started having lunch between lewd jokes, conversations and their  typical fights between friends.

Lunch time was about to end and most of their friends were already on their way back to the classroom except them.  Shindou was staring into the sky when  Kirino tapped on his shoulder, slowly he let his head down staring directly onto his eyes, immediately he moved his stare into another place since  Kirino was staring right into  Shindou’s eyes. Leaning a little bit, he was pushing his face towards the brown-haired boy whom by his surprised leaned back. In silence the two of them stayed on that position for a couple of seconds.

With their foreheads pressed against the other  Shindou felt a pressure on his chest while the silence was turning unbearable, he had to say something, before they were right on the place he didn’t want to, before he could still  confuse his best friend with his feelings. 

“I can’t do it anymore”  Shindou whispered against the pink- haired's lips.  Kirino nodded in silence. “I feel that we have extended this far too long, don’t you think?” He moved his face a couple of centimeters back as he stared at  Kirino whom had the same expression making him assume that he wasn’t mad about his words, slowly his voice was getting louder and less shaky. “I adore you as my best friend, but we are so...so...”

“Awkward”  Kirino finished the sentence with a grin on his lips. The pink haired went back to his original position while shrugging his shoulders. “It’s fine, we always said that it was nothing serious. We just felt like making out and playing with our bodies, it’s not like we were getting married or something”

Was that it? After all this time and worries he could’ve easily ended things just like that?  Shindou felt utterly stupid.

“For somebody that doesn’t care about nobody you do seemed very worked out in order for telling me this,  Takuto ”  Kirino joked with him while he pushed him with all his  strength making the other buy fall into the ground laughing to shove off the embarrassment.

“Give me a break, I don’t know how relationships work, I barely even know about sexual education from our school nurse. God I was feeling so scared that you might hate me I mean, you like boys...I thought that you liked me or something like that. You always seemed like that” 

Kirino broke off in laughter as he stood up dusting off his pants with his hands, turning around to him he displayed to his best friend a smile. “ _ I like boys _ , that’s something I am not denying in any way. I liked you when we were young, probably when we were 14, now...asking myself if I like you right now could be a tricky question, you don’t like boys or girls, you seem more like a guy that isn’t into anything and it’s fine. I guess that we just wanted to test how far could we make it as a ‘couple’” He paused while he offered his help to  Shindou to help him stand up, once the other boy was in front of him  Kirino putted his hands on his shoulders staring at him, no longer smiling but not angry. “It’s fine not knowing what you want...but just because you don’t know you can’t hold down people in order to do so. People get tired of waiting.  Shindou ...I do hope you can one day you can stop repressing those feelings people were shaming you for feeling a couple of years ago. Feeling things does not make you any less of a man, so relax dog, you have all the permission in the world to feel. Besides, if you were a  soulless robot you wouldn’t had  left me hickeys on my neck for weeks now, you see?”  Kirino joked while one of his hands went to his shirt moving the fabric showing his skin with some purple bruises.

Shindou pushed him back a little bit laughing when the two of them were interrupted by Kariya who  seemed a bit taken aback by catching the two of them a little bit close to the other yet in a  split of second he changed his expression signalizing the boys to go back inside.

“You, idiots, class is about to start. Let’s go before we get in trouble”

“We’re following you stupid, don’t worry”  Kirino said while they broke off their grip and started walking the one next to the other.

“Hey”  Shindou called him as the two of them stopped their steps right at the beginning of the stairs. “I don’t mind participating on the play...just don’t make me talk that much, I suck at acting”

“Sure, I’ll let Aoi know,  probably you’ll end up being an extra, the festival is in three weeks so there’s not much to do”  Kirino said while he passed his arm on  Shindou’s shoulders while the two of them walked down the stairs, smiling and now with all their matters cleared up at last, finally.

“You think we can  trick Tenma to buy condoms again?”

“Nah, it might work with Ichino. Maybe we can get him to use it”

“Dude that’s gross!”

“I wouldn’t mind if he uses it with me”

“That’s so gay man”

“I am gay anyways”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sikeeeeee, if you thought I was going to pair this cute duo you were...a tiny bit right. As much as I love easy pairings the days were everyone was with the people they loved are over. I know, Time of Our Life was cute and fluffy but with Youth I am taking relationships on a little bit more "realistic" way and that means that not on every chapter we'll get a happy ending, get ready to feel angry and a little bit frustrated because my mind is raveling and drama is the only thing I can think about...right now.
> 
> But besides this, how are you guys feeling? Did you enjoyed the episode? What do you guys think about it?  
If you have any ideas or comments be free to leave them, I hope you guys have a beautiful night and enjoy the rest of your week, I'll see you next week with another poorly written but full with love chapter. Love you guys a lot uwu 
> 
> Follow me on tw @revelvelets and tumblr @acladykay if you have more extensive comments or if you want to be friends, have a blessed night uwu


	4. Sun and Moon.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With personalities so different from one another, how can two of the most brilliant students from Raimon High become closer to the point to be part of the best prank of their school so far?   
Well buckle up because besides going down in history as a prankster duo Amemiya Taiyou has another goal this time around which is making the quiet yet well known Hyouga Yukimura his friend.  
How is that going to turn out?  
Is it possible to be friends with someone so different?

** Sun and Moon. **

There’s not much entertainment in life as a teenager when it comes to school activities; most of us just want classes to be shorter, homework to be easier and exams to be a piece of cake. All of those extensive beginning of the year activities is draining but there was one that had Raimon High School particularly excited, it was no other than the mid-spring festival and let me explain you why it was such a big deal. 

Thanks to an older student (An evil silver haired guy) it was a tradition to start the festival by dropping water balloons at the teacher’s board cars and then to show the expectations of the classroom for the year (it could be the most popular, the one that won all the sports competitions etc.) It was out of the conventional festival and that was the main reason why it was liked by students in general, it wasn’t made by a teacher, it was made by a  legend , by a student just like them and their duty was to carry on the tradition.

As far of preparations, costumes, decorations and all it run all by the count of the students and even if that meant staying until the night it was more rewarding seeing each other bonding and having a good time. The peace and tranquil aura were something that Amemiya  Taiyou enjoyed very much alike, especially for someone like him who had so much energy and was a ray of sunshine, if not the sun itself, with everyone around him. He was on the same class with most of his friends from his teenage years which allowed him to be comfortable enough to be the most popular person of his year, almost everyone knew who he was and, most of the time, they would always mention how mischievous and positive he could be.  Taiyou was in charge of arranging the prank their class was going to do on their teacher’s cars, almost all of his time and dedications was dedicated to preparing the water balloons and  _ other things  _ that they would throw the morning of the festival. 

On the other hand, we had one specific individual that had a problem to engage with his classroom activities, not because that person didn’t like being close to people, but because he didn’t know how to be close with someone else. He was as cold as the snow, as brilliant yet distant like the moon itself, and no one had the opportunity to quite capture the reasons why it was so hard to engage with him, he was a puzzle, a question mark that no one seemed to know how to penetrate, well, at least not yet.

Since Yukimura  Hyouga was on the same class as  Taiyou it was the orange-haired responsibility, no, it was his only goal, to integrate the new transfer student to the class and get him real close to his old friends since the second he had entered Raimon he had chosen not to be friendly and spent most of his days alone like an outcast.

Their classroom ambient was always peaceful and calm that even to  Hyouga it wasn’t hard to not pronounce a word and just chill on the back of the room, everyone was just talking or joking around, the first exams were approaching and his only goal was to do a decent work at school so he spent most of his free time studying. Quietly and with his mechanical pencil on his left hand he was trying to solve a math problem when his class president came into the classroom calling the attention of him and all the remaining classmates that stopped what they were doing allowing the  long-haired girl to talk.

“Okay people, all the arrangements are going really well for the school festival, we’re almost done with most pf the utility we are going to use to represent our goal as a class. The only thing we are missing is give our homeroom teacher is the list of what exactly every student is doing. Since this is a festival made by students for students, we have to ensure everyone does something.” The orange haired girl said while most of the class was agreeing with her, almost for her last sentence she was looking directly to Yukimura’s direction while the blue-haired boy felt her piercing stare making him look into another direction. “That means that you Yu--”

Taiyou reading the situation almost perfectly cut the words of his class president he stood up while calling everyone’s attention while he felt everyone now staring at him; brushing his radiant orange hair he cleared his throat while staring first onto Yukimura and then his class president. “Well, I was keeping it as a secret but  Hyouga and I have been pulling together the prank to our teacher”  Hyouga’s eyes got bigger than ever before as he stared onto the other guy, he had to control his expression in order for the rest not to realize he was actually lying and he had put not even a single effort to put that festival together. 

The girl was impressed that she actually turned her face to  Hyouga who now tried to pretend having a calm expression while everyone in the classroom whispered to each other of how they didn’t see that one coming and how incredibly strange was that the two of them had had the same interest on pulling the prank to their homeroom teacher. “Is that true, Yukimura?” She said smiling while he opened his mouth for a couple of seconds trying to process what had just happened,  Taiyou was about to talk one more time when he took the words out of his mouth speaking, for the first time, more than just a couple of words.

“It is true, he approached me a couple of weeks ago knowing I was not that good with creating the scenery for our little presentation. Since I do not have that much free time, we mainly talk about it alone...but yeah, you can put me in the list with him since we are both pulling the prank onto out teacher...” As everyone was satisfied with his answer  Taiyou stared at him dumbfounded as both knew they were lying to their scary and bossy class president, the girl after listening his answer she just moved on reviewing everyone’s duties on the festival and let the little meeting over as everyone continued what they were doing before she had entered the room. As Yukimura resumed his studying  Taiyou approached him standing in front of his desk, slowly the blue-haired let his mechanical pencil down and was received by the other one’s warm and wide smile.

“Hey”

“Hi”

“Look, I know you might not like the idea of us you know, talking, but I do appreciate you actually following my lead on that lie.”  Taiyou said while Yukimura nodded slowly agreeing with his words “I just would’ve  found it actually cruel to you if Midori made you participate on something you didn’t want to” 

The other one just shrugged his shoulders while he continued writing on his notebook some notes, as he continued studying he could felt the shadow of him not leaving in front of him so, after a couple of minutes, he raised his head again while putting down both his book and mechanical pencil. “Is there anything else we need to talk about?” 

“I mean yeah, we need to talk about the prank we are pulling onto our sensei. Listen, I know that was some quick thinking with this lie, but now that Midori is  aware, I haven’t technically started this by myself she’ll be expecting to see us discussing this topic at least once”

“I am not interested in that, I thought everyone was aware of it. That’s why I don’t talk with no one anymore, I am done with playing around like a popular type of boy, I just study and pray to go to a decent college as far away I can be from Hokkaido” Yukimura said back while he grabbed his pencil again playing with it between his fingers, probably as a way to hide some sort of nervousness, or maybe it was just a reflex, whatever that one might have been it caught  Taiyou’s attention that instead of whipping away his smile he made it wider as he rubbed one of his fingers under his nose smiling  mischievously . 

“I’ll wait for you after school today, at the soccer field. We need to discuss this prank very well and please make it believable that we are both thinking hard about it, I don’t wat you making me look bad in front of everyone. The festival is a week so you better make it look you have been working on this for the longest time now”  Taiyou said dismissing completely the other one’s words and he walked back to his desk.

Hyouga had said he was hoping to continue his life in secret and quiet as possible  _ during  _ school, but he never mentioned anything about once the bell rang and his life  _ after _ school started. And he was sure the other boy was going to appear, because, he would be as quiet as he wanted but there was something he never had realized; the eyes, the eyes never lie and as he had said those words  Taiyou had caught that he was lying, he didn’t mean any of those words, he was sure he was going to appear eventually, because Taiyou was always right.

“I don’t need to go to that field, I need to go home and sleep for a while, I haven’t been able to study that much in between classes.”  Hyouga said to himself as he was leaving the boy’s bathroom once the bell had dismissed everyone for the day, as he walked quietly through the school halls, he could feel himself exist in between the little universes that some groups of friends were appearing in front of him. Ever since he had arrived to  Raimon he had felt himself being a little external agent, floating around those already formed groups of friends. 

It was rare for him to fit in back on his hometown, his only friend was his old soccer coach, everyone was used to admire him and being jealous of his seemingly perfect life; yet no one was truly a good friend to him, his friends would always talk bad behind his back because he would attract all the attention from the pretty girls from his school, because he was so cheerful, so good looking, they would always find something to criticize about him it was actually like he was living with people ready to attack every single thing he did. He had quit soccer and he plead his parents to move to a new town once his middle school days were over; in the process of his very short career as a soccer player he had made better friends within the  Raimon soccer club, but once he was in front of them all those fears of having to live a hard life came all over again to his mind. Were they really his friends or they were just waiting to any opportunity to bring him down? Those thoughts would flood his mind seconds before he would try to be approached by them that he would quickly shun himself away. It was a miserable life he was living at that moment, but there wasn’t much for him to do and even in between that internal conflict he decided to switch his path from going directly to his house to the soccer field.

Probably pranking his teacher was going to be a good thing to clear up his mind and insecurities.

As  Taiyou found himself kicking one random soccer ball, after years of not doing such thing, he listened some steps approaching him, without saying anything he continued bouncing the ball between his legs until he felt someone taking the ball from his feet forcing him to rise his head finding no other person than Hyouga. With a playful smile he let the other boy bounce around the ball for a couple of minutes until he tried to reach him on an intent to take the ball from his feet. As both boys played for a couple of minutes the distant screams and instructions to one another were clear enough that they echoed through the field, making both of them feel a bit nostalgic; it had been a long time since they had had a soccer match, and, almost as if both were aware their feelings were taking over them they stopped playing and threw themselves on the grass by the field and they started to discuss what they were going to do to their teacher, or at least pretend to so Hyouga wouldn’t get in trouble for not helping to his class at all.

“I had in mind that already to throw water balloons to his car, but I was thinking of taking it to the next step, you see,  Haizaki senpai did an amazing job but that was like what...ten years ago? Times change and I sense we need to make them suffer just a little bit more so I was talking to myself as I was folding the laundry at home, what is more disastrous than water? Flour...and some soy sauce. I know, it’s a little bit out there but in between the craziness of everyone throwing things to their cars nobody is going to notice it was us the ones that mixed the water balloons to everyone else. I mean it’s been a while and I heard that four years ago they even threw eggs and some nasty smelling stuff so us throwing flour is not going to be the end of the world” He took a pause and he stared into the sky laughing,  Hyouga was as silent as always silently agreeing with him and that sole fact made  Taiyou feel a little bit uneasy so pulling himself up and in front of him he continued talking staring at the other boy showing him a little grin that appeared on his lips. “Anyways, after that we’re having our presentation, that god awful one, apparently our class wants to be the most united or with the best bond...which is a little bit ironic because most of us just talk to each other outside of school. I mean, who talks to Midori? I don’t have anything against her but sometimes she comes too rude that people tend to avoid her, I don’t know if she is projecting her desires on us or what, but I just don’t see our class being that united. Maybe we can win on sports festivals, I mean they have us and  Kirino for soccer and, to be fair,  Shindou has lost his touch and we  _ ALL _ know Tsurugi is too focused on making out with Tenma so it’s a free pass for us to conquer them all”

By the second time he was talking  Hyouga wasn’t even paying attention to him, his mind was just focusing on how much homework he had to do the minute he arrived home,  Taiyou really talked a lot in daily life but the way he was just going on, and continued at that second, was surprising to him to the point he wasn’t even trying to pay attention to him but the other one was just continuously talking not realizing his words weren’t listened. Why bother into telling him things he wasn’t truly interested in? Why was he taking the time to spend time with him if, by the time the festival ended, they were going to be back to wave at each other on the halls and nothing else? Why bother if he was going to do the same everyone did to him?

“Do you even know when to shut up?”  Hyouga cut the other one’s words and the orange-haired boy kept his mouth open as he was in the middle of a sentence. “We just ended finalizing the prank, there it is, we worked together on it. Now I can go back to not give a damn about our class and you can go back to be popular and such.” 

“Why do you care so much to go back to be a quiet person?”  Taiyou inquired as his expression instead of being mad or offended was as calm as it always was, slowly he stood up giving his back to his friend staring into the school building, then the sky who was turning orange due to the fact the sun was setting on the distant mountains almost as if they were saying goodbye for the last time. “I remember you as a cool guy, a little bit  _ too _ passionate over soccer and with trust issues on your coach. Besides that, when we used to hang out after the matches you were cool and a prankster, hell you even pulled pranks on your teammates, I remember how close you were with Tenma that you would visit us from time to time. Then our last year of middle school arrived, most of us quit soccer and you just disappeared; man you should’ve heard all the girls squealing when you appeared as a transfer student on the first day,  Kirino and  Shindou made so many plans and you just blew them off saying you had no time for that and your parents wanted you to focus on school only.” A little grin came from his lips as he now turned himself to stand in front of him now with a  full-on smile and the sun creating a little shadow and some of the remaining rays of the same would reach his vibrant orange hair making it glow more than usual.

“What are you trying to say?” He questioned him as he stared directly onto his eyes feeling how the other one didn’t pull his eyes  apart from him.

“I do not care what beef you had with your other friends, we are cool man, but it’s not fair that you have to give up on your youth and try to act like an adult, we have almost thirty years in the future to behave that way.” He said simply as he reached for his school bag putting it on his shoulder and giving him a final stare that now pierced onto his eyes. “I’ll wait for you Thursday at 6:00am sharp, I’ll bring the balloons and the soy sauce, you bring the flour and we’ll fill them up in here so we don’t have any accidents. I do not care what type of act you are pulling on everyone else but you ruin this prank and I swear I’ll talk to you until I have no saliva left on my mouth. Oh and also, if you want to hang out with us after our presentation you can, the guys want to see the fireworks on the pool so try that no one catches you because it’s supposedly going to be closed but Midori is going to steal the keys while no one realize. We’ll be waiting dude, any time you’re ready” He waved at him and he started walking towards the bike garage where he pulled his bike from its lock and without turning his back the orange-haired boy rode his was home.

Hyouga left a big pack of air leave his lungs and he threw himself onto the grass closing his eyes complaining on his mind how hard it was to fit in with people; has Amemiya always had been that annoying? Or maybe he just had a lot to talk about. Whatever that was he kept his eyes closed and for 30 long minutes he didn’t move any inch of his body until it was pitch black and it was his cue to go home. 

He was not going to be at 6am to pull a prank with a guy that was his complete opposite, he didn’t even consider him as his friend it was impossible for him to do it. 

Two days later he was at 6:00am sharp in front of his school’s entrance ruing the day he said he wouldn’t care about anyone anymore.

“Fuck him and his brain washing words...God I hope this day to be over already”

Hyouga was yawning as he was holding a balloon's tip and  Taiyou was dripping some soy sauce onto it, both of them were working in silence as other students who also were getting ready their respective pranks for their teacher; both of them looked like they had a rough awakening as their dark circles under their eyes were bigger than usual; in silence both of them finished their work around 6:30 trying carefully not to pop any of them since the mixture between soy sauce and flour was as sticky and harder to clean up.

As the time was approaching  Hyouga was falling asleep on the edge of the open window that lead in front of the faculty parking lot, he could listen to other students whispering and laughing not being able to contain their emotion to get back at their teachers. He could listen also at  Taiyou talking with everyone else as his voice was the loudest and distinctive of them all. Slowly he opened his eyes again as he could listen to all the cars approaching and  Taiyou was giving instructions to everyone to get ready with their balloons, with a little bit of nervousness he grabbed two balloons and stared into the outside waiting for the cue.

He was taken away from his trance up by  Taiyou elbowing him giving him a trusting smile that lasted a couple of seconds until he caught with his eye all the approaching cars giving everyone the cue to hold,  Hyouga held his breath and when  Taiyou let his right arm down everyone started to throw many and many balloons not only filled with water but also some sticky substances making everyone laugh and scream joyfully.

While  Hyouga was throwing balloons at all their teacher’s cars he found himself smiling as their classmates were giving him encouraging words and complementing him for hitting all the targets without missing; everyone was chanting his name and that made him actually happier than he could remember. It took him back to his glory days in middle school as a star soccer player and he was friend with everyone, the star boy, the one everyone looked up to. As he was showing off his skills once the throwing of balloons was over, he and  Taiyou gave each other a high five and passed their arms on their shoulders and now almost everyone was chanting their names as their had realized how daring and new their balloons were since they weren’t filled exclusively with water creating at that very moment a new tradition.

The festival was almost over, the sun was setting on their school all over again and after the new rush of emotions were finally passing  Hyouga was feeling sleepy on his lonely classroom. After a cool and great performance of his classmates he had finally laughed like he wasn’t in a very long time, he was praised by his classmates and he actually talked to some of them surprising everyone how deep his voice actually was, how tall he actually had become, his little accent while talking everything and anything they had missed for the two months of their newly started school year making  Hyouga actually regret not talking sooner to them and vice versa.

With that idea on his mind he left his classroom in direction to the school’s sports area, walking and leaving groups of friends behind he started walking towards the pool noticing how the lock was open and some laughs could be heard. They were approximately 16 teenagers that he could remember from a couple of years ago, as everyone realized he had actually appeared they cheered for him and almost without seeing their faces quite good he recognized an orange-haired presence that was smiling the widest at him, without saying much he quietly sat on the cement wall were almost everyone was sitting and that was right in front of the track field were the teachers were preparing and detonating at the next second the fireworks; everyone was happy and cheering to the point not a single word could be heard between each other.

It was magical at some point how everyone was with a certain expectation from that festival and from now on. Without saying anything  Hyouga’s hand reached  Taiyou’s shoulder and taking the boy out of his focus on the sky both of them smiled at each other quietly and without saying anything they stared into each other’s eyes realizing how different they had been yet at the same time how comfortable they were. 

“I thought you were going to stay friendless the rest of your life”  Taiyou joked as both of them got closer to each other whispering on each other’s ear due to their friends yelling and the loud bangs the fireworks were creating.

Hyouga smiled and now that was his  turn, he leaned close to his ear and laughing between his sentence he said: 

“That’s for losers and people with lack of confidence and I never loose dude”

Both of them laughed at each other and gave each other a high five, the rest of the night came more like a blur as all of them talked about each other, joking around and promising to one another that this night and every day they had left on their school days were going to count and from that moment and now on. From that moment they were going to be the closest friends they could be regardless how different their personalities could be and without caring who had hurt them in the past since that didn’t matter anymore now that they were stronger than that.

_ Because even the sun and moon live in the same universe, as friends, as lovers and as one. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I've been away for a while, it's been super crazy at my work since the holidays are coming and I am pretty much sure for the next two weeks I won't have much time either thanks to the holidays (?)  
ANYWAYSSSSSSSSSSSS I hope you guys loved this episode today and if you have any ideas or comments they're always welcomed.  
I hope you guys enjoy your holidays with your family and loved ones, may you guys have a blessed 2020 and you get everything you've ever wanted and more.   
Follow me on twitter as @revelvelvets and tumblr as @acladykay for more crackhead content  
Have an amazing week uwu.


	5. On my nerves.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midori Seto has anger problems, Ryouma Nishiki has a special talent to make her angry, their friendship is still the same but some things have changed and even if she hasn't realized yet a very special situation makes her realize that maybe Ryouma isn't the annoying teenage he used to be in the past. 
> 
> Can feelings reach someone even after years? Where's the limit between been blunt or distracted? Midori is going to prove it to us right now.

** On my nerves. **

Getting rid of a building rage it’s not an easy job, biting your tongue in order to hold your feelings, having to press your hands into fists and having to yell into a pillow at the end of the day because if you lose your calm in front of that person it will only be a sign that you deeply care about their presence. You see, Midori was not the type of girl that cared about her appearance or even her social relationships in school, but, this was something more sort of pride rather than anything else, if there was something she cared about more than anything else was her pride and her reputation in front of everyone. She was scared as she was respected by every single person at school and that was she liked, being feared and respected in order to keep people away from her true self; it was so easy for her to avoid deep conversations that include sharing too much personal information and her position as class president made everyone approach her only for school related stuff, it was the perfect job for her yet there was only one person that made her loose her calm (more than usual) and that was something that was starting to piss her off.

It all started a couple of days before the Spring Festival, Midori was just going out of the school council meeting when her old group of friends approached her to know the newest details of the festival, it was all good and amazing until one of her friends started teasing her saying how she looked more like a lady than her middle school days, everyone brushed it off when she punched him in the stomach but that kept on bugging her, no one realized it well, everyone but the boy that had said the comment.  Ryouma Nishiki knew very well how to piss her off and it has been years for her trying to understand the reasons he  would always tease her in that way.

Once the festival was over the teasing was less public but more often, ever since that night they had all hang out watching the fireworks the boy would constantly talk to her in between classes in order to compliment Midori’s beauty, clothes or even her hair. There was nothing wrong with it if you were an outsider but it was so weird that every single time it would piss her off, their exchange of words would usually be like this:  Ryouma would approach her telling her how pretty she looked, Midori would get mad and punch him with anything she had on her hands and then storm out to go and scream in secret. Everyone, even their friends, would think that he had said something bad to her but in reality, it was just a simple compliment, good words or even a smile would make her mad and get on her nerves.

Him telling her she was cute made her mad, and what pissed her out the most was not knowing why it made her that angry.

One afternoon after eating her lunch with her longtime friends Midori walked towards the bathrooms to brush her teeth's when she heard some voices on the hallway in front of the bathrooms, she was about to turn around when she heard the voices talking again, one of them wasn’t familiar to her but the male voice definitely was. As she stopped holding her stuff against her chest, she kept quiet, she didn’t like meddling in other people’s business but that male voice was enough reason to her to throw that custom of her through the window.

“...what I’m trying to say it’s that, I like you, I really  really do. In spite of what other people say about you or how do you look I have feelings for you senpai.” The female voice said while Midori held her breath clutching her fists  regretting staying still forcing herself to listen to that exchange of words.

“In spite of what people say about me?”  Ryouma said with a dead tone of voice, almost as if he was mocking her, he took a deep breath and continued talking. “Look, if you want to push yourself to like me beyond of my looks then you probably need to find someone else to say this thing to. I don’t want some pity like from someone that clearly drives her life over looks. I appreciate you and this, chocolates” He said while Midori could listen a rattle, probably he was shaking that box of chocolates he was referring to. “But you’re just not my type, I’m sorry. But hey, we can be friends if you want to, I’m a good shoulder to cry on, they’re better guys to cry about like  Takuto or  Ranmaru ” He said while laughing, Midori heard the unknown female voice laughing too, it felt so surreal that he had just turned down a girl and instead of drama and tears they were laughing and  cracking jokes, it made no sense to her.

Quietly taking some steps down she then climbed up again making noise in order to give them some second to realize somebody was approaching, without even looking at them she walked pass the two of them who were little to no different than what she heard earlier, a little bit angry she started to wash her teeth letting the water run, she didn’t want to listen to the two of them even if they weren’t anything it just pissed her off. She finished brushing her teeth and was on her way back to her classroom when  Ryouma waved at her saying goodbye to the girl walking towards Midori in direction to their classroom. Midori looked at him for a couple of seconds without saying anything and both reached the door, before she could open it  Ryouma stopped her by placing his hand before hers and sliding it so she could walk in first.

It was an awkward silence that felt like lasted a year, but it was just two seconds before he punched her playfully on her shoulder making her a little bit mad.

“Hey, did you hear anything when you walked by the bathrooms?” He said while he grabbed a chair sitting in front of her desk, Midori was still reluctant of staring directly on his eyes so she was pretending to be looking for something on her backpack.

She shook her head and without her realizing a little smile creeped out from his lips making him laugh a little bit, believing her lie, he just patiently waited for Midori to stop doing what she was doing, after re-organizing her books for the fifth time she lift her eyes realizing he was still there, she shoved the books back inside her backpack and threw it to the ground making some of the very few classmates that were there to look on her direction. 

“Can I help you with something?” She mumbled as the other classmates got back to their activities noticing she didn’t explode on him as she would usually do.

“Nothing, I am just waiting for you to finish what you are doing to talk to you” He said simply as he shrugged his shoulders looking at her with a smile. 

“And what are you going to talk about? How feminine I look today? Hoy pretty my hair looks? How the sun reflects on my skin and makes it glow like if it’s dark gold?” She added as she got visibly more upset by every question kicking him harder than the previous time.

“I mean yeah, but I just felt like talking to you. It’s been a while since we talked about something that didn’t end up in a fight. Well, we used to fight in middle school but that was because of samurai’s stories” He said jokingly while he patted the desk inviting her to sit down, it took her a couple second but she quietly sat down in front of him, they were at least five minutes left until the bell rang and they had to resume their classes, it didn’t make sense to Midori yet she quietly unfolded her arms and smiled at him.

“The school council wants us to start throwing ideas for the summer festival when it’s April, like what the hell. For things like this I regret offering myself as the class president” She said joking while laughing remembering how is that she was now the class president due to the fact she had lost a bet to no other than  Ryouma and, as he also realized that they both started laughing a bit harder than before.

“Maybe we can be samurais since our goal for being the most united class is going to fail”

“Hey! I only said that because no one had a clue of what to say” She snapped back at him kicking him playfully 

He just let his arms up still laughing when the bell finally rang and the students were coming back to continue their routine, he just waved bye at her and walked back to his desk. Even if the day was moving forward she was still stuck into the exchange of words he had had with that girl earlier, while she was trying to focus on the class her mind would slip back into those words making her confused and uneasy, why is that a girl talking to him made her that mad? She left a little groan out of her lips once the bell dismissed them for the day, she had barely paid attention to her classes and now she was feeling a little bit sick on her stomach, the worst part is that she didn’t know why.

After school she decided to walk home instead of staying on the school council’s meeting, it wasn’t something you had to be part of it but she liked it so that way she could avoid getting home early, today was the exception, she was feeling sick to het gut and she was extremely annoyed to the point she didn’t want to talk to her friends as they were heading towards the train station. It was such a horrible and annoying thought she had on her mind, she didn’t know why remembering what the girl said made her so mad, every time the word “like” it just made her more and more angry, she was clutching her fists ever  since she left the classroom and now she could actually feel the palms of her hand hurting. 

It was suffocating and bothering to her, she couldn’t even be part of the conversation Aoi and Akane had. It was not the first time she was upset related to something that  Ryouma would say or do, but it was the first time it made her feel upset something  _ someone _ else would say  _ about _ him, she couldn’t wrap her head around that fact, she still saw him as the annoying brat that would fight her at the very chance he had, it just didn’t add up the fact people had feeling for him, was there anything likeable about him that she haven’t noticed yet?

She arrived home throwing her phone away and then she threw herself at her bed while groaning and screaming against her pillow, her stomach hurt a lot and she felt like crying, she didn’t feel like doing homework and she felt completely tired. She thanked God by the fact she was home alone and no one could listen her complaining and screaming insults from the top of her lungs, she could listen her phone ringing non-stop yet she didn’t feel like talking or even be present on the world. She was tired, so tired it was overwhelming. After spending all her energy screaming and punching her plushie animals she fell asleep on her messy bed. Three hours passed and a persistent knocking on her door woke her up, instead of being angrier she felt all her energy was drained from her body, slowly and tired she walked down the stairs taking her time, she drank some water and after almost ten minutes of persistent knocking she finally opened and now, instead of feeling a pain on her stomach she felt like it dropped down, so down that even hell was higher than where it was supposed to be.

“What the hell happened to you?” A male voice said while she was speechless, slowly she opened the front door inviting him to enter.

“I’ve been feeling sick, my stomach started hurting a lot after lunch so I guess it was what I ate. I quickly came from school and I felt asleep yet it helped me a lot. It doesn’t hurt anymore” She mumbled as the other boy was still on the stairs without entering the house.

“Do you have food in your kitchen?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Sit down, I’ll cook something for you” He said now entering the house entering directly onto the kitchen without thinking twice.

“Since when do you cook?” Midori asked him as she sat on the kitchen table that was a couple of steps away from the kitchen where now  Ryouma was washing some rice and looking for seaweed on the cupboard.

“For a while now, mom has to leave early for her job so sometimes I have to pack my lunch, I mean it’s not like I know how to cook that much food, the rice cooker does all the job” He said while he poured the amount needed on the appliance and sat in front of her while waiting for the  stipulated time it needed to cook.

“Then I guess she has nothing to worry about” 

“When are your parents coming?”

“Probably tomorrow, dad is out of town and my mom is taking care of grandma, it’s fine anyways she left me food for a week” 

Ryouga laughed a little by her comment and stood up again once the rice cooker was done, with the seaweed and with the help of a spoon he made some onigiris to Midori, they were clumsy looking but they were decent, he poured some juice on a cup and brought the food to her, it wasn’t the first time it happened; both of them were close outside of school even if they hit each other, they talked almost every day and spent almost all afternoon in each other’s house so when she didn’t get home he knew something was up. They cared about each other even if their conversation will usually end in kicks and he knew it. 

On the other hand, Midori was staring into the plate of food, she had never thought other people could see the qualities  Ryouga had, she always thought of him as a bratty person who didn’t know how to loose but he also had an amazing number of attributes about him, she couldn’t wrap her head on how come other girls could see him in any way for a romantic relationship, what things he had that made him attractive to a girl? And why he had rejected her when the girl was so pretty?

“Hey, Nishiki” Midori said after a couple of silent eating feeling how actually the rice made her stomach feel better, the boy let his phone down and stared onto her putting all his attention to her. “Whose were those chocolates you were sharing with the boys later”

“Oh, some girl, she said she had feelings for me and gave me those. I didn’t like her so I rejected her, thought she was going to take the chocolates but I didn’t piss her off.” He said while playing with her hitting onto her arm jokingly. 

“Did she said why she liked you?” Midori inquired while finishing up her food moving the plate on the side kicking him making him sob because of how hard she had hit him.

“I don’t know, I didn’t pay much attention, she just said I was funny and overprotective and she felt it was cool for me to be like that. Doesn’t make much sense because I only take care of you” He shrugged his shoulders while kicking her back laughing because of her actions.

“Maybe she wants someone to protect her, I don’t know guys tend to be like that when they like somebody” Midori laughed while giving him a final kick taking her plates to the sink washing them.

He didn’t say anything, he was just staring at her in a response to what she had said earlier, it was almost like if everything he wanted to say was there, being expressed on his stare that was directly on the back of her head, suddenly he cleared his throat and waited for her once she was done sitting back where she was.

“Did my food make you feel better?” 

She nodded and smiled at him making him smile towards her.

“Then I guess I'll better go home, give you some time to feel better and such. I have a shit ton of homework to do” He said while he now stood up walking towards the door, Midori followed him feeling a bit better knowing that at least he didn’t like the girl.

“Oh well, I’ll see you tomorrow then, hopefully tomorrow you don’t have other love confessions” She joked at him hitting him on his shoulder as he was now at the doorstep.

“Don’t worry, the only girl I want to protect is  _ you” He _ said while giving her the instruction to get closer to him, as she did, he smiled a little bit. “By the way, you look really pretty today, even if you are sick and all” 

“Ugh get out of here” She said laughing hitting him on his stomach and following him giving him some last punches on his arm. “YOU ARE ALWAYS ON MY NERVES, I HATE YOU SO MUCH!” She yelled at him as he was running back to his house.

“AND I LOVE YOU!” He replied while throwing some kisses to her.

As he turned around still running, he knew that it was going to take her some time realizing what he was trying to say, but it  didn't matter how much time he was going to take.

He had already waited for years since they were kids and it didn’t bother him waiting a little longer until his feelings could finally reach  her, she was worth waiting and even if everyone knew he just cared that she would know, finally.

Waiting for love it’s hard but it’s always worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes in life we are Midori or we aren't her, she is my favorite manager from Raimon Go and you guys have no idea how do I visualize her being very lost when it comes to love topics.   
I hope you guys enjoyed this episode and I wish you guys happy holidays, enjoy with your family and loved ones-  
I might not be able to update so I wish you also a happy new yer 2020 and everything you propose to yourself becomes reality, have happy holidays, stay happy, eat a lot and be careful.   
If you are interested in talking to me you can follow me on tw as @revelvelets and tumblr as @acladykay. See you guys around uwu.


	6. Odd couple.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friendships are all sizes and mechanics, but you've never imagined this type of friendship, not even in your wildest dreams.
> 
> They share the same hobby, the same mindset and almost the same brand of shampoo.  
The only difference?
> 
> They're a boy and a girl.
> 
> Nope, it's not Ryouga and Midori...completely.

** Odd couple. **

There’s nothing stranger in this universe that people who don’t seem to be good pairing together become a couple. It doesn’t feel like it fits yet at the same time when you see them together it looks like the  love they have for each other makes everything better and helps you to forget the fact that the couple doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing. And you see, sometimes the pairing is not technically romantic, but watching them talking to each other and share the same visual space kind of messes you up; this happened to two specific individuals after a well know duo of friends started to share more and more time together and  rumors started to spread around even to people from other classes.

On the classroom of 1 st years class number 1 a well-known student (and friend of the couple) was shook up almost like everyone after realizing that the two of them would spend an awful a lot of time together, at first he dismissed their comments but it wasn’t until he realized by himself that those friends would literally stay glued to each other through the whole school day that he realized that they were the first couple that he knew that would spend all their day with the other. It was a tricky concept because he knew that the only people that would do that were actually couples that had a romantic background behind them, but, were his friends actually in love with each other? Since when they realized that? And, the  million-dollar question, how was the mere felling of love that pushed people to share a whole day with the other without feeling tired?

His parents had divorced when he was still a kid so he didn’t really know what it meant showing a healthy love relationship, he had to juggle between living on two ridiculously expensive houses as his parents would fight the other to please all of his demands, he was literally given anything he wanted except genuine love. He wouldn’t talk about it to his friends either since all of them had their different problems that would be from living miles away from them to not being able to express who they truly were because they feared the worst. It was a weird age the one he had turned, he was older than most of his friends yet all of them seemed to be on the same terms of being lost, trying to find themselves, and it was actually taking all his hope that things would get better. It was hard being a teenager to him already but he was starting to realize that in the process most of them  were being aware that the world was way much more than they imagined.

As he was thinking all that he snapped back to reality as the bell rang and his classmates started to stand up and get ready to go back home, it was the middle of May and the weather was getting slightly hotter than the past few weeks, everyone had stopped wearing their sweaters and they opted to wear the informal school uniform, his duty to clean the classroom was the next day yet he stayed there until he caught the glimpse of Minori towards his direction and without saying much he grabbed his stuff and left the room without saying anything. He wasn’t his usual cocky self; he was very well known for getting in trouble almost every day, he was a flirt and he would literally never be quiet yet, due to the recent events, he was now more quiet than usual and he would rather spend his free time by himself, he would brush it off to his friends by saying he had to do  phone calls with his parents but, as everyone knew him that well, they knew he was not even close to them. Everyone assumed it was just a phase that would pass and, they weren’t wrong, is just that they weren’t sure how much was it going to last.

Minamisawa was usually a loud cocky boy yet, on those days, instead of going to the soccer field to play one or two games with his friends, he would walk around the school building and decided to sit on the grass that was on the furthest point of the school almost at the end of the wired wall that separated the campus and the neighborhood surrounding the building. People rarely walked on that little sidewalk so it was perfect for some students to sneak out and smoke a quick cigarette or two, it was also used by lovers to share some kisses and affectionate hugs since the public displays of love were prohibited; in this case  Minamisawa took a little pack that was wrapped with a handkerchief from his backpack and looking everywhere he took a lighter from his pocket and lit up one of the very few cigarettes that were left on the pack. Smoking at that young age wasn’t shocking...considering he had started at the tender age of 15 years, now he was a full blown  17-year-old and it seemed that smoking was the only constant thing in his life.

He was used to rush into smoking at school that not even after five minutes he was already done with it, quickly he putted down the fire and he dig a little hole on the grass putting the little end of the cigarette and quickly covered it back again. As he started to move around to let the smell leave his clothes and hair, he heard some steps approaching, he was confident that whoever that was they weren’t going to be able to accuse him of anything so he just sat back normally when it hit him, the smell was strong still and the pack of cigarettes was undercover as well as his lighter. He froze as the steps were heard louder and louder until a figure turned around the corner scaring him yet when I gazed at the green hairs and pale  skin, he felt for the first time in his life relieved that his class vice-president was in front of him.

“I thought you were long gone and the person smoking this was a freshman. I was stuck cleaning windows that I was sure you were walking home by now.” The female voice said as Minamisawa laughed at that comment shaking his head from side to side, the female now sat next to him and without saying much she opened her hand towards him and, almost in a silent agreement, he gave her both the package and lighter.

Slowly the girl took one and lit it up, quietly she did the same thing he had done a couple of minutes before, he wasn’t surprised, and almost all of their friends weren’t. 

Minori was a reckless girl anyways, and both had become friends by secretly smoking after hours and, as they both quietly exchanged stares at the end of the day, they had agreed on finding each other and share their little secret. Not only they were friends, now that  Minamisawa was having and existential crisis, she was his only friend he would talk to regularly and only because she  understood what was going on his head.

“You scared me, I thought it was a professor or a couple trying to get onto each other” He said jokingly as the girl was letting smoke come out of her mouth in different figures, rings and all sorts of tricks someone with some experience would show. 

“The teachers don’t care if you smoke, they care if someone else sees you doing it with the uniform.” She replied as both of them laughed and stood in silence from there and on for about five minutes, five minutes in which she finished her cigarette and did the same thing  Minamisawa did previously, once she got rid of the smell both of them kept the silence and without saying much both of them stared into the sky, the street or the moving grass in compass with the wind.

“I have a new topic for our game”  Minsamisawa said breaking the silence as Minori was now playing with the grass in silence, she just nodded along at the end of his sentence allowing him to continue talking. “ Ryouga and Midori” He shot his words and almost as his reaction the green-haired girl had the same expression as he had the day he found out the both of them might be a romantic couple, she clicked her tongue and almost as if it was the hardest thing to do she actually took a couple of minutes to think of a clever answer.

Their game was easy, one of the two would come up with a pairing, any pairing, of two people and the other would describe four things: how long would they last, their love confession, their fights and lastly, how would they break up? For example, when Minori came up with the  Kirino and  Shindou pairing  Minsamisawa’s answers were: 1) they would last for 5 minutes, the time they would screw each other, 2) while drunk on sake covered on each other’s vomit, 3) why would  Shindou be always the giver and  Kirino the receiver and finally, 4) by killing one another...or ghosting. It was a silly game that would rarely get serious but, as they both sensed one the names were thrown in the wind, it wasn’t so easy anymore. 

“Shit...that’s a hard one” Minori said while laughing, after a couple more seconds of thinking she finally cleared her throat and, with a rather positive comment she began. “Well for starters, I am mostly sure if they get together, they’ll last till death, they're best friends, I mean there’s nothing cooler than knowing your partner so well like the two of them know each other. But, you see, the tricky thing is that they haven’t confessed each other yet, I can sense  Ryouga pulling his feelings all out but she’s so oblivious that she can’t see it yet; now the funny part is that they both fight each other to the point they’re on each other’s throat daily that fighting for them would be with words and, if you noticed, there’s nothing those two assholes can’t resolve.” She joked while  Minsamisawa laughed a little bit, sometimes he forgot how insightful she was, how she could read the room and say the best and most accurate comment ever, that was one of the many reasons why they were friends but, there was something deeper that had made them get that close, and it was something he had realized in the pass of time and that she was the only one that knew about it.

While transitioning from middle school to high school both of them realized they weren’t as crazy as the rest of their teammates in terms of love relationships, they were all over their friends when they found out they were interested in someone else, but, they never wanted to go through it themselves, the idea of them falling in love was rather stupid yet they didn’t want to label themselves because of it, yes, they were reluctant to go on dates or even saying they find someone attractive, but that didn’t mean anything because, besides them being rebellious, they never wanted to fit in with any label. Even if their friends would tease each other as the ‘ace friends’ and their not-so-friends-more-like-people-that-bullied-them called them ‘the virgin duo’, they couldn’t care less yet, it hurt them somehow that they would only reduce them to something so small and...irrelevant...that that was probably the reason why they had shut themselves down and rather not to talk with anybody, there was no point for them to be  misunderstood .

They never talked about it yet, since he had been thinking what to do with his life,  Minsamisawa felt the urge to ask her if she was actually okay by listening those comments almost every day, he was a little bit  tougher than her, but even if she didn’t like to accept it, he had to ask her...just to make sure.

“Hey...how you’ve been?” He said while staring into the concrete wall on the other side of the wired fence, he didn’t feel like staring her since it was a difficult topic, well, at least to him.

“What do you mean how I’ve been? Like, what we usually answer or that type of question that makes you talk until you feel free again?” She snapped back at him as she was staring into the sky that was rapidly changing colors due to the sunset that was setting down the city. “Well, if you ask me now, I am... here. It's just normal what people say about me...and how little I care. Takes more than just some losers that masturbate to hentai pictures to make me feel worthless in this universe. They just talk for talk; they aren’t worth my declining confidence.” She giggled while  Minamisawa nodded in silence, then Minori stood up signalizing to him it was time to walk back home, the school closed once the sun was down and, as if they both realized, they had less then 5 minutes  apart from staying the whole night at the place they hated the most.

While both of them walked through the street once they left the campus both of them could feel finally some freshness in the air, summer was coming and, as one of the many things they had in common, they both hated the heat, it was the worst punishment they could think of. 

Minamisawa was still thinking Minori’s words when, once they reached her bus stop, she stood in front of him and without waiting for him to realize it she spoke again after almost 10 minutes of complete silence. She gently punched him in the shoulder that took his mind away from his thoughts and he playfully hit her back making both laugh. 

“It’s going to be okay, just don’t focus on whatever you are thinking now. People liking each other is a normal concept actually; I know that your only source of love example were your parents and that ended like a train wreck, but don’t overthink that much about  Ryouga and Midori that might or might not be something, it’s just...”she paused while staring at him and let a little laugh and resumed talking “teenage love that might last a couple of weeks or a whole life. Whatever that means. Now, all I can say is that maybe... you aren’t that far from not liking someone ever... maybe you haven’t found someone that makes you not feel nauseous of the thought of doing cute shit together.” And with those words  Minamisawa knew why she was his closest friend at the moment, she was like him yet, at the same time they were completely different from one another and that was something he haven’t realized just yet, he nodded to her words and started laughing in silence for a while.

“You are right, maybe it’s a matter of time” He said with a little smile on his lips and, after the longest time ever, he arranged his hair, just like in his old middle school days, almost as if his past version of himself was finally coming back, almost like if she had unlocked something, something he didn’t realize was missing.

“Now, get going home before I puke after all this friendship cringy conversation” Minori kicked him playfully and at the same time her bus stopped in  front of her, both of them said goodbye and  Minsamisawa was now walking back home, today it was his mother’s night to please him on everything he wanted. 

Maybe life wasn’t and it isn’t settled once you stop being a teenager, maybe the guessing who you truly are extends for a longer period of time, and maybe, we need something big to make us start asking questions, wondering what we are, what drives us to continue living. 

Maybe sex, sexuality, drugs and all that crap that happens to you for a reason, to find something greater than that, or probably it is what life is all about. Whatever that was,  Minamisawa was about to discover it.

Probably,  Ryouga and Midori being a thing wasn’t the end of the world, it was the beginning for him, and for everyone else, because the subtle changes and signals of growing up from that point and now on were going to be greater and more noticeable.

“We are all fucked from now on then...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New year, new lame writing(?) I hope you guys enjoyed this, I know it's not the most entertaining thing to read but I kinda wanted to make a transition point because, trust me, things are going to get a tiny bit crazier.
> 
> Hope you guys have good new year resolutions, try your best to continue them and please, do not forget self care. Eat, sleep and be kind to others, take care guys and I'll see you next week.  
You can follow me on twitter as @revelvelvets and tumblr as @acladykay, if you have any ideas or suggestions on what should I do next.  
See you in a week uwu.


	7. Connecting dots.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Masaki Kariya faces up one of the biggest mysteries that surround the young generation, do we shut down our emotions because we don't know how to handle them or because we don't want to deal with them?
> 
> An event from the past has been stuck in his mind for months now and a simple act of kindness reveals to him the reasons why he had feel the way he has on the past couple of days.  
Now it's time to look up from this moment and the ones coming up next.  
The fireworks in the sky means one thing, summer is approaching.
> 
> Part 1 of 2. Kariya's POV.

** Connecting ** ** dots. **

Summer was full on by the time the young boy realized that he was sweating more than usual by lunch time, he had been a little off the past few weeks that on the very same morning he had seen all those things that had been happening gradually while his mind had been shut down. Kids were running towards the open spaces of water fountains, old ladies would use umbrellas and little mechanic fans, he and his classmates would rather spend their coins for buying ice cream on recess time than any other snack, he had done all those things but his mind had been completely shut down apart; his body was there, he had been doing things normally but his mind, his own conscience was in another place and when it finally came back it was probably as he had been in a coma; it wasn’t nothing like that, it was his own depression that, as always, had taken him in a trip, a trip of forgetfulness, a trip  where he felt his body was ready to stop existing.

He wasn’t even sure if it was even okay to call his feeling depression, he wasn’t sure if it was the right term to express the way he was feeling. If it was or wasn’t it really didn’t matter to him, he was just there, barely feeling alive, trying to figure out what was the reason he was so down and feeling so meaningless. Maybe, just maybe staying alive and going to school that day was going to help him find a reason to live...or at least to understand why he was that way.

Like every morning he rejected being taken to school by his guardians, it was easier for him to take the train rather than listening to them bickering each other because one of the two was in a relationship with no future for almost ten years now, it wasn’t like he wanted to hear something in an area he had no idea about; love was a field so freaking confusing to him that the less he had to deal with it, the happiest he would be yet, in order to reach that level of peace he had to deal with the thing he hated the most, taking the train, because it was his only scape but also his greatest fear.

Kariya Masaki was afraid of big crowds specially when it was the perfect set up for everyone to see what he was doing; he was scared to death of doing something stupid or clumsy and that would allow everyone to see him. He was scared of strangers passing judgment on him including his friends and, as he was shaking his leg while waiting for the train on that early morning, he was relieved to see the same school uniform as him. That smile did n0t last long because, from all the students he was expecting to see the only person that had been tricking his mind, from the corner of his eye that pink hair belonged to one person and one person only. 

Ever since he had caught him with Shindou, he couldn’t avoid staring and pay attention on every single thing Kirino had been doing for the past couple of weeks.

And now he was on the same train station as him, going to the same place and probably sharing the same  cabin , his fear was now over the roof, he had to be the most casual person ever, even if at that very moment he was sweating like no other due to his nervousness.

“ _ Breathe, just breathe...you know what to do, wait for the people to leave the cabin, step in and put your earphones on so no one bothers you. Fuck! Why is it so damn hot? I hate summer so much, people sweating since early in the morning, I wonder if I am sweating...Don’t raise your arm you fool! Oh my God I am such a mess...probably going to school with  _ _ Midorikawa _ _ and Tatsuya wasn’t a bad idea after all. Why does he have to take the train? Doesn’t he ride his bike to come to school every day? FOCUS! The train is arriving.” _

Once the train opened its doors, he did exactly what he had rehearsed on his mind, after five minutes of people leaving and others arriving, the train started moving making Kariya a little bit relieved that he didn’t see  Kirino getting on his cabin, once again he was free of seeing him. 

For you to understand what was happening you need to know what went through his head that day in march when he had encountered two friends behaving in a way that he had only seen in corny romantic movies.

It was like any normal day; he had arrived to school, barely paid attention in class, pulled some pranks on his friends and had lunch with them and, after eating their lunch, they started to discuss ideas to sneak some alcohol on their weekend reunions without getting caught by his parents or any other grown up that could put them in trouble. After deciding that  Minsamisawa was going to steal a bottle from his dad’s cabinet everyone agreed and decided to head back to their classrooms before the bell rang and their teachers could leave them out of their fifth class of the day. 

Kariya was pulling Tenma’s growing hair when Tsurugi noticed  Kirino and  Shindou’s absence and, because he was the last one, Kariya decided to climb back the stairs and call them down before leaving he sworn hearing  Minamisawa advising him to knock before opening the door, he didn’t understand why, well, not until he opened the door that connected the rooftop and the scene he saw was as weird as intriguing all at the same time.

They weren’t kissing, they weren’t doing anything weird, it was just the two of them laughing while  Kirino showed at him his neck full with hickeys while whispering things to one another, what they were whispering to each other? And, why it made him a little bit...odd?

“You, idiots, class is about to start” It was the only thing that was able to come out of his mouth. “Let’s go before we get in trouble” 

After saying those words, and leaving the rooftop with the two of them following him he could feel his soul leaving his body, shutting his mind off and not being able to see or feel anything for the next couple of weeks. He would come back from time to time to prank his friends but, the second he saw the two of them together again his mind would shut down; it was an endless cycle that was starting to worry him, he could see both of them separated but the  second they would cross paths his memory of the day was completely gone for next couple of hours.

The intercom forced him to come back to his senses, his stop was next so he had to move to the closest door that was starting to fill up with boys and girls wearing his same uniform and everyone was squeezing each other to the point he was arm against arm with some of his classmates pushing his anxiety to a level he couldn’t imagine before. He started to sweat and he could feel his breath cutting short every time he tried to take in more air, he felt his lungs starting to work faster and faster while his vision started to black out. The idea of him fainting made him even more anxious, that was the type of situation he wanted to avoid but it was happening, his own mind was making things worse and he couldn’t even tell anyone what was going on. Barely breathing the stop was announced and the minute the doors opened a new brush of air entered his lungs that gave him enough strength to walk away from the train, actually it gave him enough strength to run his way from the train station to his school grounds, sweating and starting to watch dark spots Kariya did not stop running until he could feel he was completely by himself and, once he knew no one was around, he collapsed on the middle of the pathway towards the back entrance of his school building. 

It was a flat sound, dry, no one realized right away that he had collapsed on the floor, but he couldn’t feel the sun hitting directly on his face anymore, actually, after a couple of second he felt his body cool down, was he dead? Or probably somewhere else...whenever he was the only thing, he could wish that was far from his school.

Of course, life was not going to be as good with him, it would be too good to be true. 

The cold air of the infirmary was especially cold due to the fact that it used most of the AC than any other place from the school. Kariya was covered by three blankets with different patterns as he heard the sound of scribbles been made on a piece of paper, it was soothing as it was waking him up at the same time; it took him around five minutes to finally opening his eyes and as he felt weak he saw that pink hair sitting in front of him, writing things on his notebook barely paying attention to the fact that he was awake.

He let a little gasp of air  abandon his lungs and by second after that sound appeared on the room  Kirino lifted his head up staring at Kariya with a smile.

“Well good morning, you scared the crap out of me dude” He said while patting him on his shoulder resuming the scribbles on his notebook, Kariya was still shocked by seeing him, that was the first time in forever that the first person he would see in school was him; usually he was only with  Shindou , before school, during and after it. He couldn’t remember the last time they weren’t together so, at that moment, him being with him was the most unnatural thing on earth yet, it was happening. As he could he tried to sit on the bed only by being helped by  Kirino since he didn’t have that much  strength left. 

“What are you doing here? I thought you came earlier to class with  Shindou ” He said while  Kirino disguised the change on his expression when he mentioned his name. 

“Him and I have decided to become more independent from the other”  Kirino said while he closed his notebook staring into Kariya who was still looking a little bit tired from the rush of emotions that appeared on him arriving school. “I was actually trying to approach you for the fifth time in a week when you started running towards the back of the building, it took me a couple of minutes to reach you because you run so damn fast and I’ve been out of practice, anyways, when I reached the entrance you were on the floor collapsed. You scared me a lot, I thought you were having an attack or something, I had to carry you on my back all the way to here, the nurse says you were only tired a suspects you were dehydrated due to the fact its summer already. She told me to tell her when you wake up, to check on you.” And, as he said those words he stood up and knocked on the little door where the nurse’s office was, after a couple of second she came into place and started to evaluate him while  Kirino resumed the  scribbles on his notebook.

The nurse kept on checking him while his mind was still fixated on something  Kirino had said earlier, was he really looking for him after all this time? His eyes raised looking for him but quickly he redirected his sight once  Kirino caught his eyes staring directly onto him; the nurse told him he was okay and didn’t seem that he needed to stay and that by next class he was good to go, she only gave  him a bottle of serum to recover from all the sweat and told him he could rest until the next period would start.

The silence was reigning again the room while Kariya’s mind was still overthinking, he knew if he didn’t ask him what was going on, he would  definitely collapse again as earlier in the morning.

“Kirino”

“Mh?”

“What did you mean by saying that you were trying to approach me earlier?” 

Kirino raised his eyes and stopped writing on his notebook visibly shook up by Kariya’s sudden question, he let his pen down and with a soft laugh, he was as nervous as the other one was, while talking to him he didn’t realize he had let a little bit too much out of his mouth, he cleared his throat and after a couple of second he stated talking in a rather low tone, completely opposite as his normal speaking voice.

“I realized me and  Shindou had been for each other all this time to the extent that I was not close to anyone else, he was the only person I knew so well that it was a little bit...lonely. You guys have been my friends for the longest time too but I barely wanted to hang out with you guys...specially with you and the way things started with each other, we annoyed each other so much that we didn’t realize how good friends we could be. But after a while I realized that instead of compensating a friendship, I was truly interested in you, and I’ve been trying so hard to get closer to you this past couple of days but you seem so off you probably haven’t noticed it. I mean it’s fine we all have our own problems but you truly scared me, you didn’t seem like yourself and then you just collapsed, I almost thought you were going to do something weird to yourself...you know what I mean.”

Kariya let a little gasp of air to abandon his lungs, he didn’t know exactly why but hearing him saying those things made him so relieved, he couldn’t explain why, yet hearing  Kirino saying that he had been trying to get closer to him made him happier than anything he had heard before. 

The smile that was lingering on his lips was really hard to cover so he let a little smile abandon his lips, trying to act casual and not completely on the verge of burst out smiling due to the fact that  Kirino was now trying to get closer to him. It was so certain and so clear to him now that he  regretted spending most of his days thinking about that situation on the rooftop so many months ago, probably hearing that made him finally connecting the dots on why he was feeling that way, regardless, the only that could come up from his lips was something a little bit more apart from what he truly wanted to tell him.

“It’s never too late to get closer, besides, summer vacations  are coming, we can hang out a lot more outside of school. What do you think?”

“That’s actually a good idea, we can even hang out after school since we have to prepare for our class activities for the festival.”

He was about to reply to him when the bell rang indicating the two of them it was time to go to their respective homerooms for their next class, a couple of words were exchanged while they were planning to actually spend time together; between laughs and stupid jokes Kariya stared at  Kirino and he couldn't avoid feeling immensely happy due to what he had realized a couple of minutes before.

Him thinking that  Kirino and  Shindou were still a couple had made him sad and that was because he wanted to be what  Shindou had...he had realized that maybe after all those years he knew exactly what the word “like” meant.

It was an accomplishment actually, realizing and getting in touch of the feelings he had tried to bury for so many years were finally out there.  Whether they were reciprocated or not it was the least of his problems, he had all the time in the world to figure it out.

Ah, the perks of being young...seems you have all the time in the world to figure things out, or that’s what we think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "i've connected the dots"  
"you connected nothing"
> 
> That's the meme that inspired this chapter of today, I am on the verge of getting a cold and I personally feel that this episode isn't my very best so I apologize if it feels a little bit...flat.  
ANYWAYS, part two is coming up next week and all the drama that you guys are waiting comes pretty soon, don't loose hope in me (even though I dislike drama and I am not even able to write it correctly)
> 
> If you want you can follow me on tw as @revelvelvets and tumblr as @acladykay, I'll see you guys next week and hopefully this flu doesn't take the best out of me. Take care guys uwu ~


	8. Fireworks.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer is full fledged now, there's only one week left before summer vacations and, as we all know, traditions from Raimon High School keep pilling up. It's now or never that Kariya has to make a crucial decision now that he has acquired his crush's friendship.  
What's the best thing to do? Let things go with the flow or let all his feelings pour down in only that can be described as word vomiting?  
We are about to figure it out.

** Fireworks. **

Full-fledged summer has arrived in the city to the point it was making everyone wish it to be over, people just get out of the shower and they would find themselves sweating already, exercising would be dreadful and by the time night would arrive there was hardly any difference when the sun was out that it actually felt hell on earth for 10 out of the 24 hours a day.

Same thing was what the students in  Raimon High School who would pledge to stay indoors most days, they would cramp each other in front of the A/C that would try its best to cool off a classroom with 40 teenagers who only wanted to stop sweating for a couple seconds. It was a horrible season upon them yet, them suffering was not going to be that bad, their summer vacations were coming really soon and they could have two full months of freedom to do whatever they felt like. It was the week previous of their summer festival, all the students besides being focused on how excruciating the hot weather was, they had to focus on ace their tests who were going to define with what feeling they would take their vacations, it was either with relief because they had good grades or complete despair because it all depended on them to save their school year once they came back. It was a rollercoaster that not everyone knew how to approach, well, everyone except Ranmaru who was, to say the least, relaxed on his skills.

The pink-haired boy was solving a math problem with full focus, his mechanical pencil danced on the sheet while he could feel a little drop of sweat travel his neck, the sun was hitting him directly yet it didn’t have enough power to burn him, it was already past 3pm (their usual end time) but he was still focused on studying for their last exam of the week. Math wasn’t actually hard for him, but if he was planning of at least attending a decent college he had to start doing his best instead of giving his best when he becomes a Senior. Some other students were doing the same as him, but it wasn’t until someone opened the back door of the classroom looking for him and, when their eyes met, the boy walked towards him and sat on the desk next to his. Without even saying anything, Kariya took out his notebook and pencil case alongside his study guide and started to solve the problems, while solving the equations  Kirino plugged his earbuds on his cellphone but one bud on his left ear and let the other one to Kariya to put it on his right ear, they had arrived to  _ that _ point of closeness that without saying anything they would communicate. 

Besides that, both teenagers got close in a span of three weeks, they would walk home together, go to places after school, study together and spend most of their weekends on one of the other’s house. They were still close to their old soccer buddies but it was very noticeable that they had reached a new level of friendship (to everyone’s shock knowing pretty well how things started between the two of them) It was almost like  Minamisawa and Minori’s, Akane and Midori’s and many other friendships that were on a high level of best friends. One of the people who were widely surprised was  Shindou , who thought for a while that Kariya was just trying to do something bad to  Kirino only to be surprised one more time, when he found out that the days when he tricked people to trust him were over. 

Not only they spent a lot of time together,  Kirino had told Kariya about the complicated relationship he had had with  Shindou and how things ended when it was clear that  Shindou was still not sure of his identity and  Kirino was mostly sure of it already. Same thing with Kariya, he had trusted him with his most ‘sacred’ secret that he was sure he liked boys and girls equally (and obviously excluding the fact that he had a big crush for  Ranmaru himself) Both of them trusted each other completely yet there was one secret left that could either destroy their friendship or take it to the next level, and the perpetual thought of it was slowly growing on Kariya, who didn’t know what to do as summer vacations were approaching and he wanted to spend most of it with  Kirino , either as friends or something else.

The sun was completely set and the sky was bright orange when Kariya elbowed  Kirino showing him his watch telling him it was time to go; after cramping their books on their backpacks both teenagers left stretching and complaining how long that day had been, kicking each other and laughing at their silly acts. 

When they reached a convenience store both of them entered it walking directly to the frozen section were the ice creams would be at and without hesitating both grabbed a watermelon flavored ice  lolly and, with Kariya flustered,  Kirino paid for both while they were leaving walking to their house, both hated taking the train, not caring that much how much time was going to take them anyways, one of them had parents who barely were home, and the other one had two nagging guardians that were too focused on their business to realize on of their orphan children's were missing. As the crickets started their immense and non-stopping song Kariya was walking from side to side in a goofy manner,  Kirino was focused on finishing his  lolly that the silence between them was rather comfortable than anything else. The next day was their final exam and the next week was their summer festival, it truly felt time was passing by quickly, to both of their impression they had just started their first year as  high school students but now they were in the middle of their summer vacations, time was almost running without mercy and both of them wanted to make it count.

“After tomorrow we have to stay after the exams, or that’s what Aoi told me. We´re finalizing the last details for the festival and we cannot screw things up, specially not after the mid spring festival fiasco, freaking  Taiyou and Yukimura took all the attention for themselves”  Kirino said in a dramatic voice exaggerating his face expressions and almost throwing himself to the ground.

“Ugh, I hate staying so late studying but staying late for that? I rather kill myself...but, to be fair, we did pretty bad in that other festival that everyone was teasing our class for weeks. I might have to tell brother  Midorikawa to pick me up, are you going to need a ride home?” Kariya asked him while he played with the now lonely stick of his  lolly , moving it between his fingers not minding the stickiness of the candy would stick to his fingers, the heat was already the worst that was happening to him at that moment.

“Sure, but tell him to pick us up after the fireworks”

“Fireworks?” Kariya asked rising one of his eyebrows as now both teenagers were entering Ranmaru’s neighborhood.

“Oh, I forget that you are an outcast...” He joked while Kariya showed him the middle finger making the other one laugh for a couple of seconds. “I’m joking, I’m joking, it is like a ‘tradition’ for our school, we release fireworks to kind of inaugurate the summer festival week since we start the weekend with our sports festival, the festival week per se and then on Friday we wrap up everything and summer festival begins. I am looking forward to it actually, some guys use the fireworks of tomorrow as a way to declare their love to the people they like...can you imagine the couples that might come out of it?” He said chuckling trying his best not to laugh punching the other one on his shoulder shaking him out of his  thoughts .

“I guess it’s a matter of waiting to see what new couples blossom. But  yo , we have to focus on studying tonight because I just know that  math exam is going to be brutal.” Kariya said while they stood up in front of the apartment complex where  Ranmaru lived in, both of them bumped fists as a way of saying goodbye when the pink haired one stopped him by grabbing his arm.

“Are we having video chat tonight to study or...?” He paused as he flashed in front of him a smile. “Just to wear some decent clothes, I don’t want my mom to think I am having a dirty chat with someone else. You see, I take my shirt off in my room since it’s so damn hot, but imagine having your shirt off in a video call, that just raises questions and I’m not even ready to tell her yet I am into boys.” He said jokingly.

As he had said those words, he didn’t let his hands of his arm, there was something on his words that didn’t quite add up, of course his mom knew about their friendship (he had been crashing on his place almost every day last week) not to mention that they had practically knew each other for almost 3 years now, how come now it was different than before?

Unless, maybe, he had sensed a difference...nah, Kariya knew damn well that  Kirino was far from liking him in that sort of way, it was just obvious, he was just asking because from time to time they would talk about weird topics and  probably she had overheard the two of them.

“Yeah, I’ll text you once I finish dinner and take my shower, we still haven’t covered the last topic he taught us and I just know it’s coming on the exam”

“Cool then, text me once you’re ready”

“Sure”

“See you in a bit”

Both of them bumped fists again and Kariya started walking back to his home up in the street, while the crickets were still making noises, he could hear the distant noises of the highway and, all in once, he realized that the constant thought of confessing to  Kirino was getting louder and louder on his head, he had to do something yet, he also had to focus on his final exam, he decided to push it on the back of his head praying that maybe, by tomorrow, he had the chance to explain himself and the feelings that he had had for a while now.

The rest of the night had gone as usual, he had to stand all the bickering both of his guardians had one with the other, he had to listen to them fighting over the fact that Hiroto was not a good partner to Tatsuya (since he wasn’t allowed to leave the table once he was done with his food) After 15 long minutes he dunked down his plates on the sink and locked himself up in his room. He took a quick shower and by 7:30pm he texted  Kirino he was ready to start the video call to resume their studying. 

It was almost midnight when they finalized their call wishing each other luck. 

And that was the end of the day for him, hoping to find all the answers he needed, not only for his math exam.

Three hours, many mental breakdowns and almost two trips to the bathroom was what the exam was for Kariya but, as he let a scream of liberation, he knew it was over...over for two months, he just had to push through the next week and he will finally be free. 

Both teenagers were chilling by the soccer field they had the rest of the afternoon free besides their PE class that was the last one of the day, both of them were talking about different topics while the time was passing by, it was so easy to talk with the other, they had kind of the same personality (or at least they were civil enough not to piss each other off) And in the midst of that realization Kariya was thinking what would be the best way to ease the tension  Kirino had expressed towards him, they had a lot of free time before the fireworks began indicating the beginning of their summer festival week, he had to think of something, even if it meant planning everything right in front of the pink haired guy.

You see, Kariya had a straight up personality so instead of having a mental breakdown on  _ how _ to do it he was just pilling up reasons on his head on  _ why not _ doing it that mere day.  Kirino had grown up so much the past years, not only physically but his personality had shown so much improvement it was almost a sin not mentioning it; he was still a clam person but, he had shown that he was just a quiet flower boy that had a feminine look, he loved pulling pranks to his friends, he was one of the most sarcastic persons on earth that would think of the best comebacks ever and save them up for the best of occasions, he would love taking care of little animals and would secretly want to take them home with him, he loved drama as long as it didn’t evolve him to the extent to create fights between his friends, instigating them. He was a whole person that it was impossible not to feel attracted to him. It was clear to Kariya that even if he didn’t feel the same way  Kirino would never stop talking to him, so, there was no conflict on whether he should make a move or not, the only conflict he had was knowing if he had  feelings for Shindou still.

The whole PE class Kariya was quiet and composed, he was acting as his usual self, hitting on Tenma every now and then as he would stare at the guys from the other class, that time he wasn’t focused on  Kirino but  Shindou , and the last one realizing it, tried to brush it off by talking with other of his friends failing to distract the blue haired one, he was staring at him not in a hateful way yet it was obvious he wanted to share some words with him so, once their teacher dismissed them declaring their day over,  Shindou waited for him in the hallway outside of the changing rooms.

As Kariya faced him face to face both of them slowly walked outside of the gym and into the warm sunset of the afternoon that was welcoming them for their last week of classes. It wasn’t weird to see both of them walking one next to the other, they were friends for such a long time, but it felt weird speaking to each other, they haven’t had shared a decent conversation ever since the day Kariya had caught the of them in a compromising situation, it had always felt like ever since those events the two teenagers felt too awkward to be with other, especially now that Kariya had gotten so much closer to the other one, he knew almost everything about  Shindou (including everything he had hidden to his ex-teammates for so long) and  vice versa . They knew a lot about the other yet it was hard to talk to the other in a decent manner.

It had been almost five minutes of complete silence, both of them were sitting in a bench by the soccer field, waiting for their friends to get together and wait for the  fireworks . Kariya was clear on what he wanted most of the time, but he was never able to speak up what was roaming the depths of his mind; he was chugging from his bottle of water in silence when  Shindou decided it had been too long to bear with it anymore.

“What do you want to know about Kirino?” He said plain and simple, Kariya didn’t act surprised and calmly he let his bottle of water down and, with the back of his hand, he wiped his lips.

“Does he still like you?” The other one replied as plain and straightforward, the sun was almost gone, and I the corner of his eye he caught his friends, including  Kirino , climbing up the stairs joking and laughing around.

Shindou let a little laugh leave his lips, he had to stare at Kariya for a couple of seconds only to realize he was being serious, he couldn’t stop giggling until the despair on the other one’s eyes came clear to him, he had to know before everyone else arrived. He let a little sigh leave his lips and before his friends  climbed up the last stair he finally spoke.

“It’s  obvious man, he likes you. Me and him as a couple is dead and over. You can ask him out...or he might ask you out before you have the guts.”

Just two seconds after he spoke all their friends came, making a mess and being noisy without being able to hide their emotion, it was no coincidence they had chosen the best seats (only behind the swimming pool) to see the fireworks. As some of them were sitting on the edge of the sidewalk and some others on the benches, the two friends decided to sit in the base of a light pole, it had enough space so the two of them could sit comfortably and next to the other.

All the students were roaming around and cheering for the fireworks to begin, groups of friends were in the classrooms, fields or even in remote parts of the school. As the ex-soccer team was expecting for the beginning of the show Kariya and  Kirino were staring at each other, it felt weird, almost as if the two of them were thinking on doing the  _ same exact thing _ the other was planning on doing. Both of them were resting their backs on the light pole, their arms were literally touching from their shoulders to the tip of their pinkies, silly smiles and giggles were filling the two of them.

Chemistry, that was what  Shindou and  Kirino had lacked, it took Kariya months to realize that was the reason why they never worked out, yet, the two of them had such and ease and natural flow to talk and stay with the other, that’s when he realized that it didn’t matter since when they had become friends, it all came down the point if their personalities and energies were similar, if they were almost made for the other, it made sense, it made such sense it was stupid not to do anything about the fiesta that was about to start, it made no sense to Kariya to keep himself quiet anymore. He could stare at his eyes, at his face, his hair, everything about the other and feel like a nervous 14y/0 that instead on affronting his feelings he decided to bully and tease him as a self-defense mechanism. He knew that it was time, now and for all, even if he couldn’t express himself well at that instant at least what he was hoping he wanted to confess. 

“I really like you; do you want to go out with me and be one of those annoying couples we complain about?”

“I thought you’ll never ask...I want to be that and much more else with you”

The fireworks began, filling the air with joy and excitement, summer had officially started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally I'm back!!!!  
I don't know why writing this chapter gave me the worst writers block I've ever experienced in my life. You have no idea, I've been battling with this episode for over a MONTH, between falling asleep or doing much more things I never found the right timing until right now to finalize it.  
ANYWAYS, How you guys been? How did you spend your first month of a new year? I hope you guys have enjoyed it and little by little tried to complete your new years resolutions. 
> 
> I truly hope you guys can have an amazing end of winter and hopefully spring come early in our lives, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter (even if it wasn't my best one, I admit it) and you can patiently wait for next week for a new update. 
> 
> Have a wonderful week and enjoy life, live happily and remember, by trying your beat you are improving in yourself. Take care, eat lots and don't forget to drink water, Love you all uwu.


	9. Stand up and fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bullying is a serious topic, but, what can come out when the stopping of it depends on your will to fight back?  
We might not always be stronger than that but with our friends to have our backs, is there anything impossible?
> 
> Ichino Nanasuke has to choose, between fighting back...or being a victim for the rest of his life.  
The choice is his, what would it be?
> 
> Part 1 of 3.

** Stand up and fight. **

Muffled voices were  piling up on his head, flashes of bit of what he believed his memory were flashing before his eyes. He couldn’t  recollect the reason why those images where  appearing in front of him, the last thing he knew is that a fist had connected on his face and now he was on the ground; he could feel some feet trying to move his body, either to check up on him or to make sure he wasn’t badly injured, yet he didn’t move an inch of his body. He was too afraid, it was always the same story once they would encounter him, there was no point in doing or fighting anything. 

Another punch woke him up, feeling the taste of his own blood to overflow his mouth forcing him to cough as hard as he could. He grabbed his head with his left hand (his right one was messed up by a previous punch) feeling a little bit dizzy. Their laughs were too cruel, no one wanted to help him...no one wanted to actually.

It made no sense to the  blue-eyed boy; he couldn’t even remember the reason why they would be so violent with him. He just knew they were a group of kids who wanted to try out on his soccer team, but he wasn’t even the captain of the second team anymore, heck, he wasn’t even a soccer player anymore, then...why did they hate him so much?

“Force this little girl to stand up” One of the voices demanded as he felt two sets of hands dragging him by his school uniform forcing him to stand up.

He met eyes with his prey. They were the same height, the same weight but it was so easy to him to give him a hard time, he would never say anything, they could be punching that kid in the middle of the field after hours (just like now) and no one would say a word. It was too good to be true.

“This is no fun anymore,  Nanasuke , you are way too easy to punch and screw up around. At least the other ones try to defend themselves pathetically, but you rather not saying a word.” He said while grabbing him by his chin meeting with the bruises and scraped he himself had done to the contrary. “What do you think you not doing anything is going to bring to the table? We’re not stupid bullies like you see on the dramas, you not doing anything doesn’t put you  above us...it makes you go lower than us, that’s why you deserve to be punched, every single day harder than the only one.” The teenager paused giving little slaps on his cheeks forcing him to stay awake. “Maybe next time, you’ll be more careful who you’re rejecting...”

He connected another punch on his face, the other two guys let the young boy to fall on the grass again grunting once he felt another kick on his stomach, praying not to fracture a bone again. 

The air was hot and it felt heavy, summer had arrived at the same time the attacks became more violent and Ichino Nanasuke was tempted to run away, or at least to put an end to all of that situation.

He stood there until he could no longer feel his ears ringing, in the same position in the middle of once the field he used to run with his friends remembering the good old times. If it weren’t for someone touching his  shoulder, he could’ve stayed there all day and all night long. As he opened his eyes he met them with another pair of green eyes (emerald green) and a long hair that was almost as the same color as them, he didn’t know if it was because of the punches, but he could sworn he had never seen a slender figure as that one, an aura he could almost feel yet he couldn’t see...so that’s what it felt actually having confidence in yourself...what a weird  concept that one was for him.

“I thought you were dead” A female voiced said in a monotone tone,  Ichino was still shocked so the female resumed her words after making sure he wasn’t bleeding or in much pain. “I saw those kids from afar but when I came  in, they were gone .... I thought that this time I was going to be able to catch them in the act but they sure just come in, hit you and leave. Anyways, you need to go to the  infirmary again?” She said while helping him to stand up

He grunted while standing up fixing his eyes again on her trying to process what had just happened.  Ichino was a guy of very few words, he would rarely talk to someone that wasn’t his best friend, yet he knew that the questions that this sort of friend was asking required answers. 

“It’s fine, usually  Minamisawa helps me...his father is a doctor so he helps me with the injuries...he just tells him that I am on the  football team.” He chuckled complaining from the pain  immediately , he gave a smile to the female and both started walking out of the field in direction to the exit, it was past 5pm and the setting sun was a signal of it. “Besides, summer vacations are around the corner, I won’t have to deal with them for a while...I also heard they were already  transferring to another  school; I just need to survive the summer festival from this upcoming  Monday and I’ll be free”

“That’s dumb” She replied to him, both of them were walking next to the other in between the narrow streets their home town offered them. The  cicadas were singing a melody while the silence between them was extending for five minutes now. “I mean...why do you let them hit you? I heard it was because you rejected them on the soccer team but mostly because you don’t even play anymore. Unless they have a problem with you not playing soccer anymore...maybe they’re a trio of dark sided Tenma’s who want you to find a love in soccer again...even if it doesn’t make sense it can explain half of their actions against you.” She teased him as they steps were  slower as they reached the bus stop that was going to take them to the rich neighborhood their friend  lived in. 

In between the sea of  office men, peers from other schools and college people they scored some seats at the back of the old yet well maintained bus, waiting for it to start moving to resume their conversation having the loud engine of it to keep the conversation between them two in secret.

“They do it...” Ichino started talking after a couple of blocks were passed, a little bit  hesitant yet  knowing that the girl next to him was going to keep the secret between them considering how she was best friends of  Minamisawa whom was a person with many secrets and side  businesses . “They do it because I told them that they weren’t fit for a soccer team...I explained them that I did no longer played for the team. But I  committed the dumb mistake to tell them that the team didn’t take bullies ever since Kyosuke, they weren’t bullies exactly...but ever since I told them that they truly became ones...and I’m their favorite pray.”

She was silent,  Ichino was already used to the girl to be short of words, yet he didn’t expect her to be silent the rest of the trip until they reached  Minamisawa’s home. He was almost sure they would never touch the topic for the rest of the day yet she stopped right on the spot a couple of  meters before reaching the front door. 

“ You really think that explaining it that way makes it a tiny bit okay what they’re doing? You have your lip smashed and a bruise in your stomach if I'm not mistaken...and you want to tell me you’re completely fine?  Ichino , you can’t lie to me...from all the people you cannot lie to me...” She paused as she grabbed him by his arm with a  strength he couldn’t even compare to. “I might be a heartless bitch but I’m not  going to let them continue to hit you until they truly do a damage they can’t reverse. And I say it as a friend that knows you from a very long time. Even if we weren’t close in middle school, you know how much I despise bullies and if they want to take you down, they’ll go with you.”

A couple of minutes had passed,  Ichino was now inside the private office of Mr.Atsushi, it was colder than the rest of the house and it was also cleaner. The lie he had told him was good enough that he didn’t inquire that much about his bruises as they seemed fitting from the  nonexistent sport he said he was practicing. After the words of his friend, they both entered the house greeted by the red-haired teenager who was well aware on why  Ichino was there. Without even missing a bit of the routine he was on the office and the girl was waiting for him while chatting with  Minamisawa on his bedroom. 

While the man was checking up his bruises on his stomach,  Ichino was thinking since when those two become closer, thinking on what a cute couple they were. He didn’t think much about love, not because he didn’t know about it...but because he thought it was a feeling that required too much of him; yet it seemed good on them,  especially on her.

“Well, I  gotta say today’s bruises aren’t as bad as last week’s, those were a train wreck. You might not need more than just a couple days of rest, no rough play. Besides, summer is coming, I’m sure today was your last practice before vacations, am I wrong?”

“Y-yes, probably that’s why we all got so  excited, but after this week we can put an end to  these recurrent consultations .”  Ichino chuckled putting a fake smile feeling how his ribs now where in pain covering it up with a laugh. “But anyways...thank you doctor, for everything.”

“No problem, any friend of my boy deserves the upmost attention” The older mentioned as he took of his examination gloves walking towards the door letting  Ichino out of the door. “But...Ichino, it’s no good to keep on lies”

“I---I” 

“The eyes chico, they _never_ lie”

Without saying a word  Ichino walked out of his office, he had been on that house so many times that he found himself walking towards  Minamisawa’s room. He felt weird, in pain and mildly nauseous, as he opened the  door, he found both of his friends chatting on his room, both of them with the  cigarettes they would  sneak smoke at his window hoping the air would take the smell away. Quietly he closed the door behind him throwing himself on the bed feeling a little bit  calmer . It was hell on earth yet but in this moment that little piece of time was probably the best he had ever felt in a while.

“You  alright in there bro? Sorry we can’t come  closer; we don’t want you to smell like us, at least not right now”  Minamisawa mentioned as the other lifted his head staring at both of the teenagers who were smoking as if it was the most natural thing to do. 

“You alright? Anything bad from this beat up?” The girl replied as she threw the last  cigarette of the day getting closer to  Ichino

“Everything it’s okay, but I think your dad already figured out all this is a lie which basically means this whole bully situation has to end before we come back to classes” He said while stretching on the bed closing his eyes for a couple of seconds. “I don’t even know how to end it...there’s only one week left till the vacations start.”

“Maybe...we can stop things before next week ends” She mentioned as both boys stared at her. “Well, you always said they were too obvious with their intentions” She pointed at  Minmisawa “And you have enough bruises to prove it right and I’m sure there’s some cc tv from at least one of the things they did to you” Her finger now traveled to  Ichino’s face 

“You didn’t hear what I told you? They find out I snitched on them I’ll be dead”  Ichino replied to her jumping out of the bed staring down at her. Her eyes were unfazed and so was her face, before replying she nor threw herself on the bed while staring at the ceiling with a faint smile on his lips.

“I know...but...for how long can you take them to make the voice run around the school alarming a teacher of what is going on?” She paused while she held herself up with her elbows. “If you want to end things up with them once in for all you have to fight back, or  Minamisawa’s father is going to tell your parents and it’s going to become a big issue...and you don’t like it when all the attention is on you. Besides, if you fight back, people are going to want to see it, teachers will see it and. .. I don’t know maybe I can slip up and say that it’s not the first time they fight with you. I mean, not making you look like a victim but more like you know, defending yourself”

Minamisawa let a little whistle out of his mouth as both boys stared at her in awe;  Ichino had no idea she had that in mind, and even to him it made sense...it was only going to stop when he decided to, and that was terrifying, because he wasn’t sure he was brave enough.

“And...it will only happen if I fight back?”  Ichino questioned her, a little smile on her lips made something inside of him jump...but it was probably the anticipation of it, nothing else.

“If you fight back, it’s going to be over. Or I should stop calling myself Minori Mizukawa” 

It was too good to be  true , but again, if he wanted to change his life once in for all he had to fight back, it was just a matter of time once he felt ready and  once he felt ready, he was going to fight back.

A week was left now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while...but to be honest with you guys this whole quarantine and world crisis had made it very difficult for me to continue writing, I've struggled to writhe this chapter for two months but I am finally happy of the outcome, I hope everyone is well and okay. The world is crazy out there but I truly hope everyone is safe.  
Even if our mental health has been deteriorating I hope you can reach out for help, as someone said once, this storm shall pass too, let's keep it strong, keep it happy and let's be strong for each other.
> 
> I'll see you guys next week, hope you liked this chapter and I hope I was able to distract you for a little bit of what's been going around lately.
> 
> Stay safe, stay healthy but most important, let's stay strong.
> 
> Take care.


	10. Free at last.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ichino hasn't been able to find enough strength to fight for his own against his bullies. The final week of classes has arrived and, even if it's all fun and games, an encounter in the stairs puts not only his life in danger but it also puts the life of a person Ichino never knew it was that important for himself in the line.  
Could this be the reason he was finally waiting for?
> 
> Part 2 of 3.

** Free at last. **

The clock was ticking, all he could think about was the approaching of the ending of the first day of their school festival. While in a trance Ichino had his attention away from his designated role in his classroom’s presentation for the festival, which was announcing when the little drama they had prepared was about to start. He was nervous, he wasn’t ready to go outside for a couple minutes facing a possible confrontation with his own personal bullies. It was hot inside his attire they had prepared for him and he was nervous like no other. Once the bell finally rang Ichino was reluctant to leave his classroom; he stood there without moving that much he only moved to stare into the window towards the outside. There were tents for the extra-curricular clubs, people were walking from one side to the other smiling and laughing, the weather was hot enough for everyone to bare yet the fact that they were so close to start their summer vacations was enough reason for them to cope with it for one more week. 

He could’ve stared in that same position forever when someone slid the door open of his homeroom, scaring him until he found a slim figure entering the room, she was smiling while having food on both of her arms approaching him with a smile. 

“I knew I could find you here. And thank God I came in before those guys” Minori said while sitting in the closest table placing carefully all the food inviting him to sit on the chair next to her. While grabbing a sandwich eating it carefully inviting him to also eat. “Have you thought about what I told you?” 

“I did...but...it’s different to do something rather than thinking about it.” The boy said while grabbing some food for himself eating it silently as he avoided the emerald eyes that were piercing his, he knew that wasn’t what she wanted to listen yet, it was the truth. 

He lacked her bravery and guts; he knew that he couldn’t stand up and fight three guys who were clearly having a vendetta against him. He was never a strong masculine guy, not even when he was a teenager. He was still fragile like his old 14-year-old self; he was taller than most of his friends and his voice had dropped way more than most of his friends, his hair was a tad bit longer, he had become even more handsome even if his face was mostly covered in bruises and scratches every single day. It was so demanding to do something he wasn’t used to. He couldn’t fight like Tsurugi or Minamisawa, and he wasn’t as athletic as Kirino and Shindou, it was all useless, he couldn’t even understand why Minori was putting so much effort and trust in him. 

“Well. I guess it will only happen when they finally push your buttons then.” She mentioned with a rather quiet tone finishing her food. 

They didn't say anything to the other for the next ten minutes, they both quietly finished their food. His stare was still fixed on the outside patio, he was thinking on how nice would’ve been enjoying the little recess with all his friends, yet he was there hiding in his own classroom, he didn’t care about the fact he was hiding with her, but he rather much more not being in that position, hiding and avoiding himself to be exposed. 

The bell rang once again, and as he was still on his attire Minori was in hers as well. Both of their classrooms had different topics yet both of them were dressing in similar attire since all the first years had the same ‘theme’ of representation for their summer festival. 

She was wearing a purple cape and under it she was wearing a green dress. It was a dominant color on her now that he noticed, from her hair to her eyes and passing by her dress, it was always the same color. He could’ve guessed she had changed too from the reckless girl he met at the end of his second year in junior high. 

Minori was a tiny small girl with more temper than high, she was rude and obnoxious with his teammates as well with her friends. She used to show zero to none respect to their coach and she was used to spend more time on the principal’s office than in a classroom. But everything changed over the last summer, yes, she was still a little bit though but it was ten times calmer than the previous years. Now she was a girl who would stand up against people who cross the path in front of her friends, she would never stay quiet when facing injustice, she would smoke once school was over, she cursed from time to time and on top of it all, she would cry easily when watching sad movies. 

She had grown taller than what she already was, they were basically the same height, her hair was longer and her figure was slimmer even if she didn’t do any exercise at all. She didn’t put that much effort on her appearance but once she did, many heads would turn around. 

He didn’t know how she knew all that information; he just knew it was on his brain and every conversation he would have with her was a constant reminder that she was a different person than the girl he used to dislike a couple of years ago. 

Quietly she said goodbye as his classmates were entering the room getting ready for a second batch of acting and laughter, she was upset and he knew it, but there was nothing from him to do. He wasn’t ready that day to fight against them yet, escaping from them and avoiding their usual places sounded the safest bet, he did not want to have more bruises, especially when the principal was going to visit their classroom on Thursday, just two more days and he could be beaten to death by those three guys that were lurking his classroom at every chance they had. Call it a miracle or not, but they didn’t do anything to him that day. 

As the two days were passing by, he spent most of it hiding on his classroom with both Minori and Minsamisawa, Ichino was pretending everything was okay, but his rising nervousness every time he would see a shadow approach was too noticeable. He was getting so worked out he skipped most of his meals that day, he lost an amazing amount of sleep too. Some of his bruises were starting to heal yet he felt even more in pain than when those were fresh, he could swear every time he would not stare at the door they were standing right there. He was losing his peace of mind, it was crazy, crazy he could be suffering this much. He started wondering if that was the correct thing to do, even when he was getting beaten up almost daily, he felt more worthy and proud of himself, now that he was hiding in the shadows, he felt worse than ever. 

Thursday arrived and between some minor errors on their play (that most of the time weren’t even noticed) Ichino’s class was congratulated by the principal himself saying it was one of the best he had seen in a while. As everyone cheered and yelled once the principal left the classroom, he could feel a pair of eyes staring at him, even if he was reluctant to move his eyes, he found the same pair of green eyes staring at him with a smile. Minori was leaning on the arc of the door smirking at him as he was dragged by one of his classmates to do a group hug. After some hugs and hi-fives she was still there and with her thumb up he knew it was all over for the week. The next day, Friday, it was the last day of school, no presentations, no nothing, just chilling in school until the final parade, were all his friends would march through the school grounds at sunset where the awards of the festival and closing ceremony was going to take place. 

The cherry on top was the fireworks festival that came after it, finalizing a school period and enjoying the freedom summer vacations was going to bring within it. He was so close he could taste it. 

After changing onto his school uniform Ichino met with Minori and Minamisawa as they both started to walk down the building since it was finally time to go home. The three of them were talking about random things as they were reaching the stairs, Minamisawa saying he forgot something on his classroom went down the stairs first announcing them they would meet on the first floor, it wasn’t until he saw one boy standing at the end of them that he froze on that same spot. It was him; it was almost like if he knew he was avoiding them and at that very same moment he wasn’t giving him any other opportunity besides getting beaten up. Minori stared at him, Ichino was paler than ever, his eyes were fearful and he was slightly shaking, the other boy didn’t say anything as he slowly started to climb up the stairs, they were face to face, but Ichino wasn’t moving at all. 

“I see you thought you were free from us” The boy said with an evil smile almost like he was making fun of him, slowly he started to crack his knuckles as Ichino felt shivers down his spine at every bone crack he was listening to. He wasn’t moving, he wanted to run away like the past couple of days, but his legs weren0t responding, he was paralyzed, almost like he had given up on his faith. Almost like what he promised to Minori less than a week ago didn’t happen at all. “You know Ichino, I thought you were smarter than this. Honestly this whole running away thing I could expect it from a middle schooler, but you’re a goddamn high school student and you can’t even stand your ground” He lifted his hand and with an unrecognizable calmness he started to give small slaps on his right cheek. “But well...what...can...we...expect...from a good...for nothing” He said while slapping his cheek harder and harder and every word he was saying and finalizing with a punch on his face that made him fall back onto the stairs. 

He knew what was next, it was now time from getting a kick, Ichino closed his eyes expecting it yet, a couple seconds later, he opened his eyes again just to find Minori standing in between him and his aggressor. He could only see her back, yet he knew that he had to let her away from it, it wasn’t her fight... 

Minori’s eyes were expressionless yet, at that very moment, she was visibly upset about what was happening; there were not many students left, and the teacher’s room was on the next floor, he needed someone to walk by but it seemed no one was on that floor besides the three of them. 

“Come on girl, you have nothing to do over here, let us have fun with your boyfriend” The boy joked as his comrades appeared from the stairs standing now the three of them in front of her. “We don’t want you to get hurt...that much” The three of them laughed again as Minori stood there without moving an inch. 

“Shut up.” She finally said as their laughs were shut down immediately, she let both her hands out of her skirts pockets as she grabbed onto the ends of the same one, gripping so hard trying to hide her rage that kept on building up. “It’s dumb enough you three have been molesting him for so many months now, and for what? For saying the truth? You cannot hide from me, I know a bully when I see one, and the fact Ichino isn’t the only one terrorized by you three makes it even more sad. You are all almost 17 years old and still think your actions do not have repercussions...but honestly, what can I expect? Coming from boys that don’t have attentive parents, what other things you guys have left? Your only hope is to be feared by your peers because you fear your own parents, their rejection when they realize how low scumbags you are...I would feel angry to, realizing I am nothing but a coward...makes me pity you three” 

As she was speaking, Ichino knew it wasn’t her fight, she didn’t have to do that for him, he was already angry enough that he couldn’t fight them but, having her getting into something he knew damn well was going to bring him problems later on was beyond overwhelming. 

He never knew that people were whiling to protect him...even if he didn’t need it. It was too sad, but he knew that at every word she said it made them even more angry, he had to stand up from the ground. As he saw the fist of the boy in the middle starting to take form, Ichino left his backpack on the floor, he grabbed Minori by her arm forcing her to take his place. He received the full impact of the punch right on his face that made him lost balance and fall a couple stairs. 

Their focus wasn’t on her anymore and as Ichino pulled himself back up he felt a kick right on his stomach making him breathless forcing him to climb down a couple more stairs coughing and hearing Minori’s voice echoing his ears. He didn’t know what she was saying, all he could hear was his heartbeat and his own thoughts that were repeating the same phrase all over again. 

He was driven into a corner as he received punches and kicks from three directions, he couldn’t hear anything as he felt something warm clinging out of his mouth and head...the metalic flavor overcoming his mouth announced he was now bleeding, in a vast amount as he had never experienced before. He tried to protect himself but a couple seconds later he was now again on the floor as one of them (the leader) was on top of him giving him punches from left to right... 

He could no longer listen to anything, was it that way his life was going to end? What was the last thing he was going to listen? Paying attention, he could hear more voices approaching his ears, he could hear the fist of the guy landing on his face, all the sounds were starting to mix up until he heard Minori’s voice pleading for his safety. 

“_YOU’RE GOING TO KILL HIM!_” He opened his eyes while the next scene came up in slow motion. 

Minori tried to stop him only to get hit on her face by him, as she landed on the floor the boy slowly stood up away from Ichino...no, it couldn’t be, was he really going to hurt her? He was now walking towards her, as he could listen to more voices coming up, they were all mixing up, it was impossible for him to listen. From all the people, he wasn’t going to let that happen, their problem was with him, not Minori. 

The boy was about to connect another punch on her face when Ichino finally grabbed strength from god-knows-where, the voices were too loud, but once it connected in the other boy’s face making him fall a couple of stairs everything became quiet. Even the phrase he kept repeating to himself for the past week had stopped creeping in between his thoughts. 

He stood up in front of Minori as he prepared himself to receive a final shot, he was too tried and weak. He saw the taller standing up and running towards him...he didn’t close his eyes, neither he flinched, even if that punch made him fall on the floor, he wasn’t going to stop anymore...he had found it, _a reason worthy to stand up and fight. _

Before the punch connected with his face, another set of hands stopped him by putting him on a lock, almost everyone was watching the scene, and, almost as if it was a dream, he realized...it was over...the fight was over...he had made it...thanks to her. 

_ To be continued. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week has been a roller coaster of emotions. A lot has been happening around me this couple day I wasn't sure I was going to update this week yet here I am, I guess that writer's inspiration it's strong enough to make you write even if you've felt some sort of blocking in the past few days.  
Originally this short story was going to be two parts but once I found myself writing it I realized it needed more development. But I promise you guys, part 3 is going to be more about feelings than physical fights. 
> 
> How's everyone been? Are you guys been safe?  
The world is going through something bad right now, lets use our voice to fight against injustice. The system has to fall completely if we want to have a better future, together we can make a difference.
> 
> Everyone please stay safe, help your neighbor in this times...and appreciate your loved ones, every day a little bit more.  
Stay safe, please.
> 
> I'll see you guys next week.


	11. Just right.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ichino now has to come into terms with the aftermath of his fight. Not everything is the same as the previous day...or any day before that one. One day remains until his summer vacations start.   
New stories are about to unfold as the heat in the weather rises without asking anyone permission.   
What is now that Ichino has to do in order to start with a clean slate?  
Is it that finally he would listen to his emotions for once?
> 
> Part 3 of 3.

** Just right. **

By that day he was already used to the fact he could barely hear a thing on quiet places, the constant ringing on his ears was now so normal to him that when the nurse called out his name he got scared. His uniform was stained with blood, his pants were also and, when he glanced at the bed he was sitting onto, he saw his backpack was also stained by blood. It was a miracle he was alive, but the school wasn’t going to take more risks, so as he was walking slowly with the help of his history teacher and his father, he knew something extra was going to be needed.

Right before he was hit by the  fist of the other guy one of his teachers grabbed him and took him away from  Ichino ,  Minamisawa ran upstairs making sure both his friends were fine and, without been able to talk, he was rushed to the nurse’s office without being able to reply to his friend. As he was driven with a high speed on his family car,  Ichino could barely listen to both of his parents speaking on the front seats. 

“...his friend told the teachers and all of them ran once they heard the yelling,  Minamisawa-kun told them that they had been molesting  Ichino for a while now” His father told to his partner as he cussed out a driver while he was driving recklessly in order to get faster to the hospital.

“I told you something wasn’t right! He kept using long sleeve shirts and he used to lie to us about his bruises” His mom replied to him as he would yell at his husband from time to time to be careful while driving.

“I AM RIGHT HERE! Don’t talk about me in third person”  Ichino replied back as both of his parents yelled at him to keep it quiet as they approached the parking lot. 

His relationship with his parents was like that, they would still respect each other, but from time to time they would yell at each other;  Ichino always shared his secrets with them...well...most of them, and that was the reason why his parents were so upset. They believed he was saying the truth with his bruises, that the moment they heard the real deal they were so upset, they kept yelling at him while driving out. But now that they arrived, both of them were keeping an eye on him and rushed him towards the emergency room, even if he had stopped bleeding a little bit, he needed to be checked up, they feared he had a concussion and broken bones. 

He was separated from them a couple minutes while a group of nurses tried to stop the bleeding on his head, the rush of the emergency room was a little too overwhelming, he could barely hear a nurse telling him they were going to put anesthesia on him since it seemed they needed to do a couple stitches and, to avoid him more pain, they were going to make sure he was out for a couple minutes.  Everything was feeling too heavy yet too light at the same time, finally the ringing on his ears was stopping until the annoying sound of it could no longer bother him. He was for a while , even if he could feel from time to time what they were doing on his head. 

Dozing off from his dream, he found himself on a bed, both of his parents looked more relaxed than earlier that day, he wasn’t even attached to any machine to help his breathing or to track his heartbeat; he did feel pain, so when he started to complain both of them sat next to him as his eyes  started to open. 

“Man,  this hurt ”  Ichino said while one of his hands went in direction towards his head, he was stopped by his mother’s hand while she was shocking her head from side to side.

“Do not touch it, we don’t want the stitches to open back up. They’re going to send a doctor now that you’re awake, they said that since the cut was too superficial you might not need more, yet she is going to make sure all your reflexes are fine.” She said holding his hand while he could see on the vacant chair his school uniform stained in blood,  Ichino sighed as his father came back into the room after letting know a nurse his son was awake ready to be examined.

“You feel nauseous, sick or disoriented?” She said again,  Ichino was about to reply when a doctor came into the room making both of his parents to step back for a little bit as the female presented herself and asked Ichino to sit on hi bed.

After the usual routine questions, ‘you know who you are? You know what day are we? How old are you? Name?’ she moved to flash a light on his eyes and hit his knees to see his reflections. Everything was  answered just right, and his reflexes were on point which relieved both his parents and the doctor. As she moved towards his parents  Ichino felt a little bit light, not sick, but he felt somehow all the weight he had on his shoulders was relieved, he no longer felt he couldn’t breathe and he knew that even if he was in pain it was the last of it for a while. 

“Everything seems to be  okay; he isn’t disoriented and his reflexes are good. He got hit pretty bad but I wouldn’t worry that much besides the bruised that are going to appear soon, summer vacations are coming soon so that time healing and out of school are going to be good. The only thing I worry are the  stitches , so please be careful, do not wet them for a week, clean them every day to avoid an infection. Besides  that, you should be fine. If you don’t have any other school  activities, I would recommend you to stay at home and rest.” She said to both of his parents and after being thanked by them she went outside to the reception to give him his papers and he was dismissed for the day.

Ichino wanted to go against her saying he couldn’t go to school the next day but he didn’t want to create a scene in front of a stranger. He had all his courage prepared, but after an hour long they were finally free to go his voice was no longer with him, he was gone and away. He put his bloody uniform again and now on the back seat of the car the only thing he wanted to do was staring onto the street, maybe the best thing to do by that point was just give up. He had already won his peace back yet he felt uneasy, almost like if something felt unfinished.

The walk from the car to his room felt lighter than ever, taking off his uniform was a relief and, with all the care of the world, he took a shower without getting his stitches wet. Now with his pajamas he was sitting on his bed, he grabbed his cellphone and was about to unlock it when both of his parents knocked on his door entering the same once  Ichino let them enter. Both of them seemed visibly worried, so once the silence was far too  long, he felt it was  necessary for him to explain the whole situation.

How to start? What to say? He felt more nervous than in any other situation before, even if he felt the  pressure of his shoulders  gone, he still felt a heavy weight on his heart that was almost as  unbearable as the beating he had earlier that day. He sighed again and finally looking up at them he started talking.

“There  were these three guys , they wanted to enter the soccer team and since I was the previous captain they wanted to see if I could recommend them. They were very well-known bullies so I told them no and  also, I told them I wasn’t part of the team anymore. I might’ve told them that the team was never going to accept people like them and they got upset with me over it. At first it was just words and insults but they escalated quickly, I didn’t know what to do...I used to be a team captain, what would my friends say if they figured  out that I was letting myself get beat up by some bullies? I guess you might say I was trying to protect my pride; Minori helped me after she caught them  kicking me a couple of weeks ago, she promised to keep it a secret, but now it wasn’t a single punch, they were several.  Minamisawa’s dad was helping me, checking them up. I told him I was part of a  football club even if that sport is the least popular ever in Japan” He chuckled as both of his parents kept silence, it felt so weird being the one filling the silence, he knew that wasn’t the end of it, besides the fact that ever since he  mentioned Minori’s name that was the only thing he could thing about now, was she alright? “Anyways, he discovered my lie and I got scared, school was almost over and I didn’t want them to be searching for me on summer too. Minori told me that I had to fight back if I wanted any chance to get it over with. Today they were pretty violent and if it weren’t because they also  hit  her, I wouldn’t even dare to hit them back. I mean yeah, they jumped on me and almost killed me...but seemed to me it was pretty much over. I heard the nurse saying a fellow teacher those boys were pretty much gone for good, but...I am just happy it’s over.”

It seemed to both of them it was too much to process because ever since he stopped talking none of them said anything; it was weird considering how loud their house was. Both of his parents loved him and  respected him so much as he did the same towards them.

“I want to apologize to you two, Mom and Dad. I know that you guys trust me a lot as the same way I do with you,  but this was a different situation. I probably was scared of what was the outcome of telling someone, they probably could’ve done it worse if they found out I told and adult. Besides, when I became the team’s captain you guys got so proud of me...you even threw a little party for me! I couldn’t come from team captain to scared child... I was too much into my pride that I couldn’t realize how dangerous it was. I am so sorry to worry you guys this way...never in a hundred years I thought this was going to  escalate this quickly.” He lowered his eyes again and glued them to the floor, after a couple minutes of  controlling his tears and when neither one of them said anything else he found words again. “I am so sorry and I know you might say no. .. but I really want to go to school tomorrow, I need to see Minori again...I need to know how she is, she defended me from those guys too, and... I want to see the fireworks with my friends...I swear I’ll be careful from now on.”

The silence was too long to bear with it, he felt so heavy and about to tear up, he knew that they would probably say no considering how much the doctor had recommended him to rest. But he wanted to go so badly, he needed to go and see everyone, he wanted to talk to Minori about everything, it was a weird feeling that he never had before but, now that he was  experiencing it, he knew he had to grasp to it even if it meant to be grounded for the rest of the vacations. It was breaking him apart, he wanted to be with his friends and he was going to do everything he could to make that happen.

He felt someone hugging him as he had closed his eyes, once he knew he was on his mother’s arms  Ichino no longer felt the  necessity of holding himself back anymore, he let it all go. His eyes started to water and his tears overflown, he was so tired of holding it up all by himself that once he felt both of his parents hug him all his walls were  officially down and he could finally show what he felt after that living hell. Everyone cried that afternoon, everyone cursed and most  important , everyone apologized to each other for hiding and lying to one another.  Finally, he felt weightless and ready to his next quest; even if he wasn’t sure what it was, he needed to let her know how he felt around her, he didn’t know what feeling was but he wasn’t going to let his fear to hold him back anymore. Whatever that was, Minori was ought to know and with his  parents' permission he was going to say it the very next day, it was just a matter of finding the right words...and timing.

What  an interesting Friday was going to be.

Walking back the school halls was a little bit different that morning, everyone was staring at him while they were whispering some words. His face was full of bruises and he had a black eye with the hint of his stitches coming in the front of his hairline. He knew that morning he wasn’t looking as handsome as he would usually look like but he never expected his bruises were going to make him the center of attention of the whole school.

The beginning of the final day of the summer festival wasn’t as different as the other ones, it was basically just relaxing on the classroom with his friends until it was time for the closing ceremony and fireworks.  Ichino was just talking with his friends who had found a funny way to make fun of his bruises and clowning him for his fight, they knew it was something serious but, it was easier as a coping mechanism to joke about it in order to make him forget about the crazy day he had the previous afternoon.

By lunch time  Ichino stepped out from his  classroom for the first time in weeks, it was strange to eat on the gardens in front of the soccer field with his closest friends, he could see how  Kirino and Kariya were messing with each other,  Minamisawa teasing Tenma for something he had just say. It was a weird feeling seeing them all together again after months of hiding and avoiding, the only thing he was missing was Minori, she wasn’t talking to any of the girls, neither she was sitting on the garden’s trying to smoke in hiding. His eyes were so focused in looking for her that most of his friends noticed it, Tsurugi elbowed  Minamisawa to talk to him, the purple-haired guy called  Ichino who finally diverted his eyes, he caught most of them staring at him with a little smirk.

“What?” He spitted back at them

“She’s on her classroom, she has a black eye and it’s too ashamed to show it herself”  Minamisawa said at him 

Almost like if that was what he was waiting to listen,  Ichino excused himself and walked back inside the main building, almost running through the stairs trying to find her classroom as he caught some student’s eyes as his bruises were too noticeable to ignore. He had felt the urge to talk to her, and even if she had texted him, he knew he had to do it face to face. He stopped in front of her classroom and taking a little bit of air to recover himself slowly he  slid the door finding her alone in the classroom staring into the window, maybe towards the soccer field like he had done all week in hopes to find a driving force to set him free from his problems that now seemed  too far away.

There was a silence between the two of them as he sat in the desk next to hers, she had noticed him but was still reluctant to look into him confirming him that she also had a bruise in her face that she was trying to cover with her long hair.  Ichino let a little  laugh abandon his lips as the girl also laughed at her tries to cover her face. Slowly she moved her face to face him as he noticed the outcome that was on her, it wasn’t as bad as his, but he knew it hurt her. Her left eye was a tiny bit purple but it was too noticeable thanks to her pale skin but, besides that, he knew she was a little bit more shocked since what  Minamisawa had said about her.

She had cried for him as she was trying to move the other guys out of the way, she had pleaded the main one to stop hitting him and, right before he was taken away from  Ichino she had pleaded again ignoring her bruises. It was something so unlike her. Minori had always been a quiet girl, barely showing emotions and she would never come between her very own friend’s business; it was so unlike her that even  Minamisawa was worried for her as the teachers were taking him to the nurse’s office less than 24 hours ago. To him just showed she was worried for him, but she deserved to know at least that if it weren’t for  her, he would probably still be a victim of those guys.

“I am sure your black eye doesn’t look as bad as mine”  Ichino said after a couple minutes of laughs and  awkward silence.

“ Oh, come on! It’s totally bad, look at this” She replied as she turned her face at him clashing eyes with him for the first time in weeks making both teenagers feel uneasy yet they weren’t even  whiling to pull their eyes  apart . 

“It looks fine, I don’t know what you’re talking about” He joked as she hit him with her fist without announcing it, he clenched a little bit as she was still unfazed, the punch had been stronger than a playful one so he lifted his eyes again at her finding her face unfazed. “What was that for?”

“That was for treating me yesterday like a  damsel in distress when I was basically kicking their butts. And this one ...” she paused as she hit him again on his stomach yet this time it was a little less rough. “And this one is because you didn’t trust my  strength . Girls aren’t weak!”

“I know I know!” He replied back as he lifted both of his arms in hopes she would stop hitting him. “But understand that this wasn’t you fight! It wasn’t even close to be your thing to get in the middle of, I know girls can defend themselves, but they were my bullies, they weren’t yours. I know you gave me the courage to fight them back, but it was  basically because they hurt you, that mattered to me more than them making me their personal box sack.” The boy let both of his hands down now that they were finally staring into each other’s eyes but this time none of them shifted them away, slowly he composed himself and moved a couple centimeters close to her face. “I didn’t care what they did to me, but the minute I knew  they could’ve hurt you or any of my friends that’s when I got worried, I don’t want nothing to happen to either you of my friends. As long it’s to defend you guys...I’ll let myself getting beaten by like...six of those guys” He joked as both of them laughed again, they were close. His imagination was telling him that now it was a good moment for a kiss and a lover’s confession but...it didn’t feel fitting.

“ Ichino ...I hope you know I am not like...other people...I’m-” She started talking as he  shook his head.

“Not into dati-”

“_Asexual_...”

Both of them stared at each other, even with all his bruises he could feel his cheeks burning, hers were in the same condition as his and both of them had to break the eye contact as their nervous laughter was too much to handle. After a couple of minutes of  unstoppable laughs and curses they found each other comfortable enough to keep talking.

“I am not into... physical issues with people I like... i am not a fan of the whole sex deal.” She said as she hid her hands moving her fingers from side to side, her  anxiety was taking over her as she feared that could change things between them.

“Cool, me neither. Anyways...it’s not like I was saying I am in love with you...but I’ve been feeling...something” He replied back as he placed one of her hands on her shoulder making her release a sigh, he could feel the tension that had built on her being released.

“I’ve been feeling something too...Which is weird because I could’ve sworn you were just... Minamisawa’s handsome friend”

“Hey! I’m much more than this pretty swollen face”  Ichino joked 

“I know...It’s not like we have to figure things out right away...Summer is starting anyways. I guess we can figure it out while we’re on our break, don’t you think?” She said now staring at him and, for the first time he had to divert his stare to another place for a couple seconds.

It was a weird feeling. He had heard his friend talking about it but it was a totally different deal feeling it himself. She was right, they had a long way to figure out if their feelings were just mere friendship or something else; the feeling could always go away but he just knew from that moment and on it was going to be more and more intense, it was just a matter if she was feeling the same way. He was about to reply when over the PA it was announced all the students had to go to the auditorium, the closing ceremony was finally there. They were free from school at last.

“Let’s go to the ceremony, we can discuss this once the fireworks begin, deal?” He said  offering his hand.

Without hesitating Minori held his hand as both teenagers walked down the halls towards the auditory. They were joking and talking as it was the most normal thing in the world, hoping the other one didn’t realize just yet that the feeling of holding hands made them  happier that they had felt in their whole  high school experience so far. As they lost themselves in the sea of students  Ichino was more and more sure that he had done the right choice, standing up and fight was the best but, he didn’t do it for him, he had done it to protect the people who were precious to him. He felt like now he had grown up, more than in any period of his life. He had two months to make the most out of them and he wasn’t alone, he had never been in the first place.

She was just right. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what I love the most about some anime? The fact that they can provide you with such small character but you completely fall for them, you imagine them in situations and in places you think they'll like, with the person you think they find attractive and, most of it, you imagine them as happy as they can get.  
I love weird pairings and honestly this is my favorite one, even if it's not clear what they're going to become in the future I think we can safely assume that once we like someone for the first time, there's not much time for thinking and more time to feel exclusively.  
We're in the middle of a social change, a revolution and as much as I hope we can continue to discuss what's going on in the world I truly hope this series are diverting your minds from whats going on. I truly hope this series can be your rest stop to enjoy some wholesome writing. 
> 
> Do not stop talking, say their names, go against people who abuse from power and most important, let's fight injustice together. There's so much more to do, even if we don't talk about it as much as last week, let's never stop fighting. 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this episode, I know it was long but I think it was worth it, don't you think?  
See you guys next week, Youth sadly is coming to an end in a couple more episodes but do not worry!  
We have the third and final work coming up from my series.   
Everyone please stay safe, take care, eat and drink lots of water, meditate and take some time for your mental health.  
Happy pride month!   
Let's be happy, see you next week. ~

**Author's Note:**

> All chapters are updated in between Thursday-Friday between 12am Pacific Time.  
Most of the episodes are inspired on my own headcanons I've published on my Tumblr blog uwu  
If you like to suggest a topic with a character you can always leave a comment and I'll keep it in mind.  
I hope the twists and pairings doesn't bother most of people, without much else to say I hope you enjoy this work uwu.


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